In Loving Memory Of
Alan Sutherland
September 9, 1951 -
December 10, 2025
In the care of
Naples Funeral Home & Cremation Services
Alan Nicol Sutherland, 74, of Naples, Florida passed away on the 10th of December, 2025, after learning just two months prior of the seriousness of his condition.
Alan was born on the 9th of September, 1951, in Falkirk, Scotland, in the County of Stirlingshire midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow) to Robert Sutherland and Isabella Nicol. He had three siblings, a brother Robin, a sister Nancy, and the youngest, a brother George, now the sole survivor. Having been a proud member of the Sutherland Clan, their motto “Sans Peur” (French for “Without Fear”), perfectly characterizes Alan’s bold approach to every challenge he would encounter in his life.
The family moved to Alness, a rural town in the Scottish Highlands (20 miles north of Inverness) soon after his birth. His extended family was from the area, and his paternal grandfather was the manager of the Glenkinchie Distillery, accompanying handlebar mustache and all. Sadly, he died prematurely, leaving behind a young widow and a large brood of children.
When Alan was nine, he moved to Edinburgh, where he was a gifted student. From a young age, it was Alan’s love of football that filled his days, which over his lifetime became an obsession - as anyone who knew him could attest to. Alan proudly supported Scottish Premier team Hearts, later becoming a life-long English Premier team Arsenal supporter.
Early on, as the eldest, Alan had a great deal of responsibility thrust on him, since his father was away on the road much of the time to support his family. This instilled in Alan a belief that everything was on his shoulders, and that he was required to make things happen. This informed the man he would become, one with enhanced self-belief which early successes would only reinforce.
On 30 September 1972 at the age of 21, Alan married Linda Holman, however, his father, Robert, tragically passed away just weeks before his wedding day. Alan often spoke of canceling the suit he ordered for his dad as the “hardest thing” he ever had to do. This meant that he had to forego a planned move to London in pursuit of a job in data processing, to provide financial support to his mother and three siblings, Robin, Nancy and George, who was only 15.
Alan would ultimately move to London for a job in data processing with London Electricity, but now with a young wife and infant son, Nicol, followed two years later by the birth of his second son, Alan.
Football was a big passion for Alan and a huge part of his life in England. Once in London, Alan joined a football team, Furness Withy as a player and later went on to Manage the team and become Chairman. Furness, as it was later known, rose through the ranks of amateur football and later turning semiprofessional with their biggest success winning the Kent League and Cup double in 1996. It was Alan’s vision and drive that took the club on this journey. The whole family was involved and Linda, Nicol and Alan would spend all their weekends at Furness.
Outside of Furness, Alan was a big Arsenal fan and football was very central in his life, especially when Nicol and Alan started playing for their local teams as kids. Alan would often “take over” in big games, much to the dismay of the teams actual Manger.
In the business world, especially with his background in technology, Alan was quickly recognized for his intuitive ability to identify a department or organization’s bottlenecks and inefficiencies, culminating with a move to the International investment bank Salomon Brothers. This led to endless travel, mainly in the U.S.
Unsurprisingly, when Alan married for a second time, it was to the sister of an American colleague and his for life best friend, Jerry Muldoon. In 1995, Alan married Pamela Muldoon, and his career as an entrepreneur began, leading to successfully establishing his own international consulting firm with offices in Germany, in addition to the UK, ultimately selling the firm to a major French Telecom company. Alan found he excelled at personally providing management support to many of the biggest financial institutions, establishing a growing network, of contacts to call on.
A year later, their son, Tyler was born, following the birth of his brother Nicol’s daughter, Nicole - his first grandchild and Tyler’s older niece.
Alan would move to the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean in late 2004, while working for Deutsche Bank in India. In early 2006, Alan collapsed with what was later determined to be an emergency ascending aortic dissection (commonly known as the “Widow Maker”), something few people survive. Alan would defy these odds, being forced to wait days before being flown 9 hours to Cape Town, South Africa, then for an 8 hour long surgery, a feat that remains in the record books.
This miraculous experience profoundly changed Alan, who now felt emboldened, unafraid of taking what he saw as calculated risks. His vast experience and his larger than life personality meant he had numerous friends across the world, genuine and warm he kept in touch with many, often over a shared love of Premier League Football, in which he employed his excellent memory and use of advanced metrics to analyze the game and its players. Similarly, Alan used these same skills and insights in business, utilizing a deeper data driven approach. Right until the very last day, Alan’s mind was still searching for solutions to problems, never believing that he couldn’t solve it or beat another health challenge.
It was as a dad that Alan most succeeded, modeling himself after his own father, Robert, a strong family man. Alan was born to be a father, always trying to be there when he sons had sporting events and personal achievements, but more than anything, he was always there when they had a problem or needed his advice.
He took great pride in his eldest's, Nicol’s, self-taught mastery of his highly sought after technical Network Infrastructure skills, in which he helped his firm integrate the systems of the numerous acquisitions they amassed, as much as he was proud of his success as a Drum & Bass DJ, performing all over Europe. It was Nicol’s little girl, Nicole, who would give him his first great grandson, Oakley, now 2 and a half.
His middle son, Alan followed in his footsteps, first with football, playing for Furness Youth Team, winning the Kent You league in 1995 and continuing to play for other teams in Kent and London, and then business, with a career in the world of recruitment, expanding his own expertise from not only financial services, but into Oil & Gas and Renewable Energy. Most significantly, he also sought work in the US, even marrying a Texan named Chandler and providing Alan his second grandchild, Maisie, now 2, with a second baby on the way, which Alan joyfully learned not long before he died. Young Alan continued to grow his business, and this was something they shared and that made him feel that his son had the stable loving family he deserved.
His youngest son, 29-year-old Tyler, he had as an older, calmer man, which enabled him to develop a very close relationship with him. A mutual love of sport, stats in particular, suited their strong analytical mindsets, both possessing mathematically quantitative approaches to problem solving. Naturally, they both enjoyed the book/movie Moneyball. Alan was hands on too, attending many of Tyler’s many wrestling competitions, large or small, driving up and down the New England coast to be there. Win or lose, he celebrated his effort. Perhaps the interest they shared that melded their alliance was a love and vast knowledge of music. However, it was when Tyler graduated from the University of Miami with a business degree that Alan was especially proud, never having had the opportunity due to the early death of his Dad.
JERRY MULDOON
EULOGY FOR ALAN SUTHERLAND
I miss Alan. The world misses him, as only special people are missed. He was a unique man. You may think I am biased, he was after all my best friend for forty years. We shared a lot of life. But you would be wrong to think I am biased. You see, I knew Alan as well as one person can know another. If there is a heaven as we imagine, I know he will be on my speed dial, frequent text partners!
I first met Alan the summer of 1985….so at end of the last century. I was responsible for a software development project for our London office … it was Salomon Brothers efforts associated with something referred to as “Big Bang”. It was an exciting time. I was building new relationships with the London guys! My boss called me aside one day to impart some heads-up info (this was his style)…the firm was hiring a senior person to head up technology, he was coming to NY for interviews. He added “he is a Scottish guy” so he is going to be impossible to understand”! I need to add here that Bob was French Canadian with an accent from Star Wars!
The following week I arrived to work early one day. At a cubicle across from my desk, sat a person I did not recognize. He quickly Introduced himself “Alan Sutherland”. The first adjective that came to mind was confident! Not in a cocky way, but as someone that knew who he was, what was important, where he was going….he was also outgoing, likeable. He had a lot going for him. He filled the room, people would be taking note of him. This was knowledge gained in knowing him for 5 minutes!
For the rest of our lives we would often repeat to each other….or anyone that would listen…that is we felt we knew each other for years upon just meeting. I do not think I ever had that with any one else. Of course we did get to know each other well. We were young. We both enjoyed the social aspects of working in NY and London. It was the 80s!! The world was evolving, moving quickly and we were young and ready!
I accepted a temporary (6 months which proved to be 6 years) assignment to London. Alan grew professionally in line with expectations becoming the CIO for Salomon Brothers Europe. Our relationship had continued to grow. We were close friends, trusted and respected each other in every way. Working side by side with Alan could not have been better.
Sadly life decided to add a speed bump. My mother in law, a wonderful woman, passed away. My wife and I agreed to relocate to the states after our six year European journey.
As friends and colleagues Alan and I went thru an adjustment period, each navigating our journey. Though we were on different paths, we always maintained a close relationship, particularly our friendship. Speaking for many, Alan was a generous sounding board of advice and counsel. He possessed a gift for picking up on subtle cues. He sensed when someone was facing a challenge, an issue …often before the person felt it themselves. He was employing a word not heard often enough today, empathetic. There are literally hundreds of people who would credit Alan with mentoring, professional counsel, friendship advice. He was always offering help. Connecting people who needed a contact, a role for someone who needed a fresh start, or perhaps just a bridge to a new opportunity. The truly wonderful aspect of all this was that Alan never thought of it as helping someone. It was just part of his DNA, who he was.
Our special friendship continued to thrive, in ways we never would have predicted. Alan and my sister Pamela developed a friendship over the years meeting at various parties, family events. Over time their relationship grew, becoming more. Initially I must admit I found it awkward …it can be a strange somewhat uncomfortable feeling when different parts of life come together…but it soon became clear that these two very different strong personalities were complementary, satisfying a need each of them felt. They married, then had a son together. A friendship that had originated one morning in a small office cubicle had indeed reached a very special place.
We now were truly brothers.
I was always proud to share with people that Alan and I were not just friends but family. We shared time together on holidays, spent christmases together, celebrated and marked birthdays together…I am fond of saying there is nothing better that can happen to us than to grow older each day. I do think it is true, but as Bette Davis famously proclaimed “growing older is not for sissies!”.
For some time Alan and I have supported each other through our aging challenges. Sharing our latest was a way of saying to each other “don’t get Down, you’re not alone” , “don’t worry, you have this, you are resilient”. when ever we spoke, no matter what one or both of us was going through, you felt better after catching up. WE WOULD BE OK! We were no longer the young guys taking on the world, but we had faced challenges together for a long time and would continue to do so!
I last saw Alan about a month before he passed. I could tell he was tired, worn by life’s challenges, the relentless attacks posed by life’s aging process. He still demonstrated the strength of his personality, intellect, his enthusiasm for life. We spoke of family, politics, and of course sports. Alan had for years had adopted my Yankees, Jets (quite generously) and I became an Arsenal (the gunners) supporter. His knowledge of football and enthusiasm was so vibrant, I again told him he needed to start a blog! I told others later that I had seen Alan and that he was facing a tough road but that he was still strong, resilient. I could not say anything less.
When I received the call from Pamela informing me of Alan’s passing, I felt the well known combination of relief that he was at peace, no longer suffering, having to fight an opponent without mercy….but at the same time trying to understand how the world continues without hesitation, a world without Alan Sutherland.
Over the past several weeks I still find myself wrestling with life’s ultimate conundrum. As George Bailey showed us “each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole”. Of course, more so for some…particularly if you are talking about Alan Sutherland.
A quote from Hamlet I find comforting: He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.
Alan was born on the 9th of September, 1951, in Falkirk, Scotland, in the County of Stirlingshire midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow) to Robert Sutherland and Isabella Nicol. He had three siblings, a brother Robin, a sister Nancy, and the youngest, a brother George, now the sole survivor. Having been a proud member of the Sutherland Clan, their motto “Sans Peur” (French for “Without Fear”), perfectly characterizes Alan’s bold approach to every challenge he would encounter in his life.
The family moved to Alness, a rural town in the Scottish Highlands (20 miles north of Inverness) soon after his birth. His extended family was from the area, and his paternal grandfather was the manager of the Glenkinchie Distillery, accompanying handlebar mustache and all. Sadly, he died prematurely, leaving behind a young widow and a large brood of children.
When Alan was nine, he moved to Edinburgh, where he was a gifted student. From a young age, it was Alan’s love of football that filled his days, which over his lifetime became an obsession - as anyone who knew him could attest to. Alan proudly supported Scottish Premier team Hearts, later becoming a life-long English Premier team Arsenal supporter.
Early on, as the eldest, Alan had a great deal of responsibility thrust on him, since his father was away on the road much of the time to support his family. This instilled in Alan a belief that everything was on his shoulders, and that he was required to make things happen. This informed the man he would become, one with enhanced self-belief which early successes would only reinforce.
On 30 September 1972 at the age of 21, Alan married Linda Holman, however, his father, Robert, tragically passed away just weeks before his wedding day. Alan often spoke of canceling the suit he ordered for his dad as the “hardest thing” he ever had to do. This meant that he had to forego a planned move to London in pursuit of a job in data processing, to provide financial support to his mother and three siblings, Robin, Nancy and George, who was only 15.
Alan would ultimately move to London for a job in data processing with London Electricity, but now with a young wife and infant son, Nicol, followed two years later by the birth of his second son, Alan.
Football was a big passion for Alan and a huge part of his life in England. Once in London, Alan joined a football team, Furness Withy as a player and later went on to Manage the team and become Chairman. Furness, as it was later known, rose through the ranks of amateur football and later turning semiprofessional with their biggest success winning the Kent League and Cup double in 1996. It was Alan’s vision and drive that took the club on this journey. The whole family was involved and Linda, Nicol and Alan would spend all their weekends at Furness.
Outside of Furness, Alan was a big Arsenal fan and football was very central in his life, especially when Nicol and Alan started playing for their local teams as kids. Alan would often “take over” in big games, much to the dismay of the teams actual Manger.
In the business world, especially with his background in technology, Alan was quickly recognized for his intuitive ability to identify a department or organization’s bottlenecks and inefficiencies, culminating with a move to the International investment bank Salomon Brothers. This led to endless travel, mainly in the U.S.
Unsurprisingly, when Alan married for a second time, it was to the sister of an American colleague and his for life best friend, Jerry Muldoon. In 1995, Alan married Pamela Muldoon, and his career as an entrepreneur began, leading to successfully establishing his own international consulting firm with offices in Germany, in addition to the UK, ultimately selling the firm to a major French Telecom company. Alan found he excelled at personally providing management support to many of the biggest financial institutions, establishing a growing network, of contacts to call on.
A year later, their son, Tyler was born, following the birth of his brother Nicol’s daughter, Nicole - his first grandchild and Tyler’s older niece.
Alan would move to the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean in late 2004, while working for Deutsche Bank in India. In early 2006, Alan collapsed with what was later determined to be an emergency ascending aortic dissection (commonly known as the “Widow Maker”), something few people survive. Alan would defy these odds, being forced to wait days before being flown 9 hours to Cape Town, South Africa, then for an 8 hour long surgery, a feat that remains in the record books.
This miraculous experience profoundly changed Alan, who now felt emboldened, unafraid of taking what he saw as calculated risks. His vast experience and his larger than life personality meant he had numerous friends across the world, genuine and warm he kept in touch with many, often over a shared love of Premier League Football, in which he employed his excellent memory and use of advanced metrics to analyze the game and its players. Similarly, Alan used these same skills and insights in business, utilizing a deeper data driven approach. Right until the very last day, Alan’s mind was still searching for solutions to problems, never believing that he couldn’t solve it or beat another health challenge.
It was as a dad that Alan most succeeded, modeling himself after his own father, Robert, a strong family man. Alan was born to be a father, always trying to be there when he sons had sporting events and personal achievements, but more than anything, he was always there when they had a problem or needed his advice.
He took great pride in his eldest's, Nicol’s, self-taught mastery of his highly sought after technical Network Infrastructure skills, in which he helped his firm integrate the systems of the numerous acquisitions they amassed, as much as he was proud of his success as a Drum & Bass DJ, performing all over Europe. It was Nicol’s little girl, Nicole, who would give him his first great grandson, Oakley, now 2 and a half.
His middle son, Alan followed in his footsteps, first with football, playing for Furness Youth Team, winning the Kent You league in 1995 and continuing to play for other teams in Kent and London, and then business, with a career in the world of recruitment, expanding his own expertise from not only financial services, but into Oil & Gas and Renewable Energy. Most significantly, he also sought work in the US, even marrying a Texan named Chandler and providing Alan his second grandchild, Maisie, now 2, with a second baby on the way, which Alan joyfully learned not long before he died. Young Alan continued to grow his business, and this was something they shared and that made him feel that his son had the stable loving family he deserved.
His youngest son, 29-year-old Tyler, he had as an older, calmer man, which enabled him to develop a very close relationship with him. A mutual love of sport, stats in particular, suited their strong analytical mindsets, both possessing mathematically quantitative approaches to problem solving. Naturally, they both enjoyed the book/movie Moneyball. Alan was hands on too, attending many of Tyler’s many wrestling competitions, large or small, driving up and down the New England coast to be there. Win or lose, he celebrated his effort. Perhaps the interest they shared that melded their alliance was a love and vast knowledge of music. However, it was when Tyler graduated from the University of Miami with a business degree that Alan was especially proud, never having had the opportunity due to the early death of his Dad.
JERRY MULDOON
EULOGY FOR ALAN SUTHERLAND
I miss Alan. The world misses him, as only special people are missed. He was a unique man. You may think I am biased, he was after all my best friend for forty years. We shared a lot of life. But you would be wrong to think I am biased. You see, I knew Alan as well as one person can know another. If there is a heaven as we imagine, I know he will be on my speed dial, frequent text partners!
I first met Alan the summer of 1985….so at end of the last century. I was responsible for a software development project for our London office … it was Salomon Brothers efforts associated with something referred to as “Big Bang”. It was an exciting time. I was building new relationships with the London guys! My boss called me aside one day to impart some heads-up info (this was his style)…the firm was hiring a senior person to head up technology, he was coming to NY for interviews. He added “he is a Scottish guy” so he is going to be impossible to understand”! I need to add here that Bob was French Canadian with an accent from Star Wars!
The following week I arrived to work early one day. At a cubicle across from my desk, sat a person I did not recognize. He quickly Introduced himself “Alan Sutherland”. The first adjective that came to mind was confident! Not in a cocky way, but as someone that knew who he was, what was important, where he was going….he was also outgoing, likeable. He had a lot going for him. He filled the room, people would be taking note of him. This was knowledge gained in knowing him for 5 minutes!
For the rest of our lives we would often repeat to each other….or anyone that would listen…that is we felt we knew each other for years upon just meeting. I do not think I ever had that with any one else. Of course we did get to know each other well. We were young. We both enjoyed the social aspects of working in NY and London. It was the 80s!! The world was evolving, moving quickly and we were young and ready!
I accepted a temporary (6 months which proved to be 6 years) assignment to London. Alan grew professionally in line with expectations becoming the CIO for Salomon Brothers Europe. Our relationship had continued to grow. We were close friends, trusted and respected each other in every way. Working side by side with Alan could not have been better.
Sadly life decided to add a speed bump. My mother in law, a wonderful woman, passed away. My wife and I agreed to relocate to the states after our six year European journey.
As friends and colleagues Alan and I went thru an adjustment period, each navigating our journey. Though we were on different paths, we always maintained a close relationship, particularly our friendship. Speaking for many, Alan was a generous sounding board of advice and counsel. He possessed a gift for picking up on subtle cues. He sensed when someone was facing a challenge, an issue …often before the person felt it themselves. He was employing a word not heard often enough today, empathetic. There are literally hundreds of people who would credit Alan with mentoring, professional counsel, friendship advice. He was always offering help. Connecting people who needed a contact, a role for someone who needed a fresh start, or perhaps just a bridge to a new opportunity. The truly wonderful aspect of all this was that Alan never thought of it as helping someone. It was just part of his DNA, who he was.
Our special friendship continued to thrive, in ways we never would have predicted. Alan and my sister Pamela developed a friendship over the years meeting at various parties, family events. Over time their relationship grew, becoming more. Initially I must admit I found it awkward …it can be a strange somewhat uncomfortable feeling when different parts of life come together…but it soon became clear that these two very different strong personalities were complementary, satisfying a need each of them felt. They married, then had a son together. A friendship that had originated one morning in a small office cubicle had indeed reached a very special place.
We now were truly brothers.
I was always proud to share with people that Alan and I were not just friends but family. We shared time together on holidays, spent christmases together, celebrated and marked birthdays together…I am fond of saying there is nothing better that can happen to us than to grow older each day. I do think it is true, but as Bette Davis famously proclaimed “growing older is not for sissies!”.
For some time Alan and I have supported each other through our aging challenges. Sharing our latest was a way of saying to each other “don’t get Down, you’re not alone” , “don’t worry, you have this, you are resilient”. when ever we spoke, no matter what one or both of us was going through, you felt better after catching up. WE WOULD BE OK! We were no longer the young guys taking on the world, but we had faced challenges together for a long time and would continue to do so!
I last saw Alan about a month before he passed. I could tell he was tired, worn by life’s challenges, the relentless attacks posed by life’s aging process. He still demonstrated the strength of his personality, intellect, his enthusiasm for life. We spoke of family, politics, and of course sports. Alan had for years had adopted my Yankees, Jets (quite generously) and I became an Arsenal (the gunners) supporter. His knowledge of football and enthusiasm was so vibrant, I again told him he needed to start a blog! I told others later that I had seen Alan and that he was facing a tough road but that he was still strong, resilient. I could not say anything less.
When I received the call from Pamela informing me of Alan’s passing, I felt the well known combination of relief that he was at peace, no longer suffering, having to fight an opponent without mercy….but at the same time trying to understand how the world continues without hesitation, a world without Alan Sutherland.
Over the past several weeks I still find myself wrestling with life’s ultimate conundrum. As George Bailey showed us “each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole”. Of course, more so for some…particularly if you are talking about Alan Sutherland.
A quote from Hamlet I find comforting: He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.