Paul Ronald ‘Suds’ Sudbrook, Navy veteran and 40-year employee in The Sun’s circulation department, dies

Paul Ronald “Suds” Sudbrook, a Navy veteran who drove a truck and managed deliveries for The Sun, died Aug. 13 of heart failure at his home in Sykesville. He was 86.

“He was dependable,” his wife of 64 years, Sandra Sudbrook, said.

A lifelong Baltimorean, Mr. Sudbrook was the youngest and last-surviving of eight children of Henry, an ice seller, and Ida, a homemaker, Sudbrook.

In 1954 at age 17, Mr. Sudbrook left Southern High School, a now-defunct public high school in Federal Hill, to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers and join the Navy. As a second-class engineman, Sudbrook earned a GED diploma during his 3 1/2 years in the Navy. He was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, Spain and Cuba.

“When we met he had just came out of the service, and had all these little stories. He was interesting,” Mrs. Sudbrook said. “One time when they sailed into Baltimore, and when the ship was coming into the harbor the captain came up to bridge. He told him about the story of Fort McHenry, and he said he made him captain of this ship for about 6 miles.”

After leaving the Navy, Mr. Sudbrook returned home to Baltimore and worked briefly as a painter before starting a 40-year career at The Sun. At first, he woke up at 2 a.m. to drive a truck and deliver papers to racks around the city for single-copy sales, which cost 5 cents in the late 1950s. Later, the cost of a single copy rose to 7 cents, and Sudbrook was promoted to assistant manager for street sales and circulation manager.

Paul Sudbrook (Courtesy of Paige Sudbrook)

Mrs. Sudbrook remembers before the internet when a big story broke, such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he would help forecast demand to determine the number of additional copies to print.

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Mr. Sudbrook liked walking around Baltimore’s many markets and stopping for pizza in Little Italy, especially at Chiapparelli’s restaurant.

“He loved the variety of neighborhoods and the markets. He just loved Baltimore,” Mrs. Sudbrook said. “We would laugh and laugh about Baltimore accents.”

Mr. Sudbrook grew up on the 900 block of Lombard Street while his future wife grew up on the 1200 block of the same street in Southwest Baltimore’s Hollins Market, although they didn’t meet until he was out of the Navy.

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“His friend was dating my friend. They introduced us, and right away we knew,” Mrs. Sudbrook said.

The Sudbrooks were married in 1958 and moved to Arbutus before settling in Sykesville, where their home was full of Halloween and Christmas decorations. Mr. Sudbrook enjoyed classic black-and-white horror and Western movies and his wife’s fresh-baked bread and desserts.

“For Christmas, the whole front of the house was done,” his daughter, Paige Sudbrook, of Washington, D.C., said. “I’m not sure the last time he ever ate store-bought bread. Her cheesecake was his favorite.”

Mr. Sudbrook is survived by his wife and daughter.

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