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By Addison Vinson, GEORGIA 2028
Tom Sutter, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 1990, carries on his son’s concern for others through Cal’s Angels by helping families facing childhood cancer
Even during his leukemia treatment, Cal Sutter was concerned about the other children fighting cancer. His father, Significant Sig Tom Sutter, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 1990, has carried that concern for others into the nonprofit foundation Cal’s Angels.
Sutter co-founded Cal’s Angels in April 2007, after Cal’s death the previous August, to help families facing childhood cancer primarily in the Chicagoland area. The foundation grants wishes, raises awareness and funds research, and it reports raising $35 million since its founding.
“Being there for other people, putting other people above yourself, and just being concerned about all these other families going through what we went through and what Cal went through, that’s the basis of it all,” Sutter says.
For his work co-founding Cal’s Angels and helping advance Cal’s Law, Sutter has been selected as this quarter’s recipient of the Mark V. Anderson Character-in-ActionTM Leadership Award.
Cal, an avid baseball player and Little League All-Star, was 12 when he was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in June 2005. During his son’s grueling treatment, Sutter says he was able to continue working in insurance with a phone and a laptop. Other parents he met lost their jobs or left them to stay with their children, he noted. Through long hours on the inpatient unit with Cal, he also got to know other challenges families faced.
Cal died Aug. 28, 2006.
“I talked about all the people that helped us through all of this. And I said, look, one of the things I’m going to do is I’m making it my goal to pay it forward to other people,” Sutter says. Today, co-founder Stacey Wahlberg leads Cal’s Angels as president, and Sutter serves on its board of directors.
Since the foundation’s inception, it has granted more than 3,500 wishes, according to its most recent annual report. Wish requests have included laptops, shopping trips, family weekend getaways and backyard playsets. Its wish program also includes siblings and a $500 gift card for a parent or guardian.
One wish in particular stands out to Sutter: “He wanted a laptop, and then he used it to write notes to all his family and friends.”
In recent years, Cal’s Angels has been making an impact on families in other ways, too.
Sutter helped advocate for Cal’s Law, which expands insurance coverage in Illinois for medically necessary comprehensive cancer testing and testing for inherited cancer risk. State Rep. Seth Lewis supported the legislation, then Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it Aug. 27, 2021.
In addition, many families travel for pediatric cancer treatment. Sutter remembers Cal receiving care at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; and an experimental program at the University of Minnesota.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago announced in October 2025 a $4 million gift from the foundation to establish the Cal’s Angels Advanced Leukemia Clinical and Research Program. The program offers specialized care and access to clinical trials for children and young people with high-risk leukemia, including those whose cancer has returned or has not responded to treatment. The announcement of this gift meant that families in the region could access to advanced leukemia care closer to home.
The foundation’s accomplishments and positive impact on families have helped Sutter cope with losing Cal, even though the loss is never easy.
“I did not want this purpose. It’s not a purpose you want,” Sutter says. “I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for Cal.”
A person with good character shows trustworthiness, respect and fairness to others, as well as responsibility and citizenship. Those members who go out of their way to help others and those who overcome obstacles and lead with integrity are good candidates for the Mark V. Anderson Character-in-ActionTM Leadership Award.
Sigma Chi introduced the award to recognize the selfless acts of brothers. A formal recognition by the Fraternity allows non-members to appreciate the scope of the organization. For information about the award, see sigmachi.org/character.