PELLA—Retired vice president for advancement Dave Sutphen and his wife, Ardie, were honored by Central College's student-athletes at the Dutchies award event Sunday night.
           
A 1961 Central graduate, Sutphen was presented with a Lifetime of Achievement Award. He still serves as a major gifts advisor and has an office in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Sutphen was instrumental in raising funds for the $12 million gymnasium expansion in the first phase of the Forever Dutch initiative.
           
Sutphen, a Belle Mead, New Jersey native, was a football and baseball letterwinner at Central. For 38 years he operated Wormhoudt & Kempkes clothing store in Pella and was inducted into the Pella Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame. He maintained close ties with Central and the Dutch athletics program and joined the college staff in 2000.
           
Ardie Sutphen, a 1964 Central grad from Belmond, Iowa, worked at the college for 33 years, serving as executive assistant to five Central presidents and secretary of the board of trustees. Their son, Todd, was a CoSIDA Academic All-America baseball player for the Dutch, graduating in 1985, and their daughter, Tamre, also attended Central.
           
"Dave is more than a fund-raiser," said athletics director Eric Van Kley. "He often serves as a host for prospective students and their families, he's a mentor to our coaches and he's a passionate fan. More than anything, though, he's a friend to our student-athletes. He loves getting to know them and they clearly love him. Dave and Ardie are Forever Dutch."