The Sutherland Restoration Fund

I am Carson Long a 1980 graduate of The University of Pittsburgh.  I want to tell you about remarkable man.  One of the greatest college football coaches of all-time was Dr. John Bain Sutherland.  He was born in Scotland in 1889, in a town called Coupar Angus.  His mother was a direct cousin of Poet laureate of Scotland:  Robert Burns.  "Jock," as he was known to the family emigrated to America where his brother Archie lived in Pittsburgh Pa.  He graduated from Pitt with a degree from the school of Dentistry.   A star athlete  at Pitt, he inlisted  in the United States Army in The Great War and in World War II he became a Lieutenant Commander.  During the period of 1924 to 1938 Dr. Sutherland led the Panthers to be a national power.  He ended his career as Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He passed away in 1948 and was buried  in Homewood Cemetery Pittsburgh.  I came into this story in 2017 while researching Famous College Football Coaches of the early 20th century.  I visited his gravesite in Point Breeze section of the city and found that his gravesite was in poor condition.  The Sutherland Restoration Fund was born to collect funds to restore the site as soon as possible.  With the help of old teammates of mine from Pitt and college football fans around the country we collected just enough for the initial restoration in2018.  The purpose of this GoFundMe campaign is for the permanent upkeep of the site FOREVER.  It is to honor a great man that we put his resting place into perpetuity.   With the wonderful staff at Homewood Cemetery doing the actual maintenance we will accomplish this goal with your help.  The upkeep includes:  care of the lawn, upkeep of the stone memorial, flowers and  wreaths. Please help us remember a most remarkable man with your contributions.  Lastly, the next time you sing "Auld lang syne"  you may will remember for the rest of your days that the song known world wide is a cousin of Dr. John Bain Sutherland