 Among those his paper covered who eventually stepped down were Wake County school superintendent John Murphy, North Carolina State University Chancellor Bruce Poulton and popular NCSU basketball coach Jim Valvano.Sitton retired in 1990 as editor of "The News & Observer" and vice president of The News & Observer Publishing Co.

Sitton died March 10, 2015, in hospice care in Atlanta, Georgia, from congestive heart failure.He was 89.