John Philip Gutting, 63

CHURCH HILL, Md. - John Philip Gutting of Church Hill died Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006, in Chester River Hospital Center, Chestertown. He was 63.

Mr. Gutting was born May 1, 1943, in Shelbyville, Ind., the son of Betty (Morris) Gutting of Chestertown and the late Captain J. Philip.

He was a 1961 graduate of Annapolis High School. In 1969, he earned a bachelors in landscape architecture with honors from the University of Illinois.

He married Suzanne (Flaer) Gutting in 1966 and they moved to Annapolis in 1970.

Mr. Gutting had a design practice in Annapolis in 1970. Among his accomplishments are St. John's College, Annapolis 100 year design plan, outdoor pavilion and landscape design for Chester River Hospital Center, Kent County Courthouse landscape design, Chestertown, brick walk restoration and distinctive design for High Street for the town of Chestertown, Terrapin Nature Park in Stevensville, Peninsula Park, Arnold and many private residential properties from Georgetown to estates on the Eastern Shore.

He won many professional awards including the Heritage Award for Architecture and Design and the Progressive Architecture Honor Award for Urban Design and awards from the Baltimore Magazine, The Baltimore Sun Magazine, Chesapeake Life and Nova Scotia Nature Trust Legacy Circle.

Mr. Gutting enjoyed photography, fishing, running, cycling, basketball and playing with his grandchildren. One of his favorite quotes was by Margaret Fuller, "It was not meant that the soul should cultivate the earth, but that the earth should educate and maintain the soul."

He is survived by his wife, Suzanne (Flaer) Gutting; his mother, Betty (Morris) Gutting; three children, Rani Fordi of Chestertown, Jeffrey Gutting of West Chester, Pa., and Liz Gutting of Baltimore; three grandchildren, Susanna, James and Ella Grace; two brothers, Graham Gutting of Abilene, Texas, and Peter Gutting of Winthrop, Mass.; two sisters, Ann Gutting and Sarah Sheehan, both of Winthrop, Mass.

Services will be 1 p.m. Saturday in St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Church Hill.

Burial will be private.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage, PO Box 1745 Easton, MD 21601; or Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, PO Box 169, Queenstown, MD 21658; or Nova Scotia Nature Trust, PO Box 2202, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3C4.

Arrangements by Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, Chestertown.