Antoinette Culler Smith Suiter

ROCKY MOUNT – Antoinette Culler Smith Suiter, age 99, passed away on her birthday, Saturday, March 18, 2023.  Born in Suffolk County, MA on March 18, 1924, she was the only child of the late Ellen Dantzler Culler Smith and Harold Joseph Smith of Wellesley Hills, MA and Orangeburg, SC. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Bayton Suiter, Jr., M.D.; and her special caretaker, Judy Wood.

A lifelong Episcopalian, she served for many years on the Altar Guild, as a choir mother, circle leader, Sunday school and Bible school teacher at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Rocky Mount. In 1987, she joined the Anglican Orthodox Church and was a member of The Church of Our Savior.

Toni, as she was called by her many friends, attended Mary Washington College and graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, GA with a B.F.A. degree in 1947. Over the years she was active in many areas of the Rocky Mount community, serving as a Cub Scout and Girl Scout leader, including a three-year term on the Coastal Carolina Council of Girl Scouts. She received the Order of the Green Band from the Boy Scouts of America, and along with her husband, received the Optimist Club Youth Leadership Award. During her long life, she was a member of the Life and Letters Book Club, a past president of the Medical Society Alliance, a 55-year member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.), and for many years was on the Board of Trustees of Historic Haywood Hall in Raleigh. She was also a member of the Colonial Dames of America in the state of North Carolina and placed on their National Honor Roll. In addition, she served on the Board of Directors of the Tar River Orchestra and Chorus (TROC) and Stonewall Manor in Rocky Mount as well as serving three terms on the Board of Directors of the Carolina Ballet in Raleigh. As a relative of Edgar Allan Poe, she was a longtime trustee of the E.A.P. Museum in Richmond, VA.

Toni was undoubtedly one of the most optimistic and enthusiastic people who ever lived. She loved life and was a beautiful, charming person in every way, sharing her joy and creativity with everyone around her. She was one in a million, cherished and admired by all who knew her. The loss to her family is immeasurable.

Toni is survived by her two children, Thomas Bayton Suiter, III and wife, Julia Hosimer Suiter, of Raleigh, and Antoinette Culler Suiter, with whom she lived for the past 15 years, of Rocky Mount; her sister-in-law, Alice Wynne Suiter Gatsis; her niece, Margaret Ellen Gatsis Cressionnie and husband, Robert; her nephew, Andrew John Gatsis, Jr. of Rocky Mount; her niece, Alice Wynne Gatsis Coleman and husband, Gerry; and nephew, John Thomas Gatsis of Raleigh; her godson, James Garland Rose of Richmond, VA; and three special cousins of her late husband, Florence House Alston, Emily Mason Ballance, and the late L.D. Ballance, DDS.

A graveside service to celebrate Toni’s life will be held on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at Pineview Cemetery with Rt. Rev. R. Dennis Campbell officiating. The family will receive friends and relatives on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home.

The family would like to thank all of Toni’s caretakers for their love and kindness over the years, Amanda Poole, Faye Keen, Tootsie Smith, Gladys Williams, and Pearl Puller.

The pallbearers are as follows: William “Widgie” E. Kornegay, John “Winston” Lea, Chris Brown, Landon “Lanney” E. Shuff, Jr., Julian C. Brantley, III, M.D., James “Jimmy” G. Rose, Overton “Buck” S. Suiter, Jr., Wesley Ballance, Frederick Frobose, M.D., and Keen Gravely.

Flowers and plants are welcome, or memorials may be made in Toni’s memory to the Toni Suiter Memorial Fund of the Tar River Orchestra and Chorus, tarriverlive.com, 301 S. Church St., Rocky Mount, NC, 27804 or Stonewall Manor, stonewallmanornc.com,, PO Box 9028, Rocky Mount, NC, 27804.

Arrangements entrusted to Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. You may share memories and condolences with the family by visiting www.wheelerwoodlief.com.