Norman D. Norcross
December 23, 1914 ~ August 11, 2019
Norman D. Norcross, 104 year old, passed away at 11:45 p.m. August 11, 2019, at Hickory Creek Nursing Home in Columbus.
Mr. Norman Norcross was born on December 23, 1914, in McComb, Missouri. He was the son of David and Sally Norcross. Mr. Norcross was never married. He and his other four siblings were raised during the great depression. Norman’s dad was a walking barber. He received 25¢ for haircuts and 10¢ for shaves. Norman, nor any of his siblings, went to school beyond the eighth grade. They had to stay home and help their mother with the younger kids. The kids also tried to get jobs where ever they could to make extra money. Norman said he worked many long days helping farmers at crop time for 50¢ a day.
Norman went into the Army Air Corp in 1941. The war broke out so he was in for the duration. He got out when the war was over in 1945.
Norman was very witty and a joy to be around. He was always cracking jokes. He will really be missed by those who knew him. He was once sitting in the dining area at the nursing home; he was 102 at the time, when he discovered that a lady setting across the table from him was also 102. She was two months younger then Norman. They discussed their upbringing and past history. Norman decided it was time for him to go back to his room. He turned to the 102 year old lady and said, “Well I was going to ask you out for a date until I found out how old you are.” I don’t think she ever spoke to him again.
Norman had an older sister, Lena Ann Norcross (Muir), and siblings, Lorene Norcross (Brown), and Ray Norcross and Faye Norcross, who were twins. I think I am his only surviving relative. I am J.D. Muir. Norman does have a person he actually considered as family. It is Fred Rankin (wife, Barbara). Norman helped Fred’s mother raise Fred and his brother, Gene. Jack considered Norman as his father figure. They loved each other like father and son. Fred’s real father was killed in WWII.
My, J.D’s, mother was Lena, the oldest of the children. I do not know how they made it through the depression. They heated and cooked with wood, raised big gardens and canned a lot. No refrigerators or ice boxes. They would bury vegetables under mounds in the ground and dig them up in the winter time. The whole family would catch a ride on a truck coming to Indiana in the summer time and pick tomatoes, green beans, etc, to make a little money. When Norman got out of the Army he had saved enough money to buy a 1928 Chevy. His neighbor liked the looks of it and wanted to trade Norman out of it. After a lot of trade talk they finally made a trade. His neighbor got the Chevy, and Norman got the neighbor’s Model T Ford, a cook stove and a cow. Norman gave his mom the cook stove and the cow. That’s how things were back then.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Friday, August 16, 2019 at Jewell-Rittman Family Funeral Home with John Sichting officiating. Military honors will be provided by the Bartholomew County Veterans Honor Guard. Visitation will be noon to 1 p.m. Burial will be held at Garland Brook Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hickory Creek Nursing Home through the funeral home.
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Dear Mr. Muir. Thank you for sharing a lovely story about Mr. Norcross. We lived in Columbus from 1993 to 2003. Never knew him, but I like to read the paper online. Apparently, Mr. Norcross was a very sweet gentleman and lived a full life. Wish our paths would have crossed somehow. I am sure he is will his parents and siblings.
Thank you again for sharing sweet memories. May he not be forgotten.
NORMAN was like my father as he and my mother(ora-pat rankin) was a couple for 40+ years NORMAN took care of my mother as she became ill .I have so many great memories of NORMAN that i will never forget a real father could not have been any closer to my heart than NORMAN. i will miss him forever..my mother died in 1985 and each year NORMAN sent money for flowers for her grave..my brother GENE died in 2008 .a special thanks and love to J.D MUIR and family for their love and care to NORMAN.for so many years.
Norman was truly a grandpa to me and my brother. He bought me my first bike. A sweet wonderful man. Thanks Norman
I have so many special memories of Norman, My husband Ray was his brother and fortunately they had an amazing close relationship. One of the many stories Ray liked to tell his friends was when he told Norman he was getting married (Ray was a bachelor age 42). He called him on the phone and said Norman I’m getting married. Long silence and finally he heard Norman’s serious voice. You still got time to back out don’t you.
Shortly after Ray and I moved to Sun City Az, in 1984 Norman came to visit us He got a ticket to fly home from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Ray took him to airport and plane was delayed. They came back to house to wait and then went back down when it was time. After a long wait back to our house they both came for the second time. Plane had mechanical problems. Norman worried once you get in this town how do you get the heck out? He decided he would not trust the plane so finally after a lot of phone calls was able to get a greyhound to Springfield, Mo. Never flew out again but did come in the car. to visit. Norman will be missed more than words can tell.
Danny you are a real saint and angel for dedicating your life with all your kindness and care for this family for so many years.
Lovingly,
Norma Norcross
I was able to get Norman to share his experience about his military service once upon a time and felt this memory is worthy of sharing.
Military Service of Norman D. Norcross – Staff Sergeant –
55th Weather Recon.
Time = entered the service 06-22-1941 (prior to WWII) @ $22/month
discharged 12-04-1946 (after WWII was over for several months) discharged @ $78/month
Rank = At discharge was Staff Sgt. in charge of the motor pool.
War service was mostly in the states but, for the last year of his service time was stationed first in Guam and later in Okinawa.
Unit = B24 Long Range Weather Outfit – 55th Weather Recon.
Notes:
Norman stated that he was on a ship out of Seattle WA, which cruised south and encountered engine trouble so they missed the departure of the convoy they were scheduled to depart with. Once they were repaired and had arrived at the departure point, they had to wait for the next convoy to be assembled, about four weeks. When they were underway he remembers the large amount of ships and the destroyers that escorted the convoy. The destroyers were constantly circling the convoy and were searching for enemy submarines. The trip was approximately two weeks to seventeen days. Norman teased me as I had been in the navy and never set to sea, he bragged that he had more sea time and had earned his “sea-legs” where I had not. He said that the trip over and the trip back, placed him on a ship at sea for over a month.
While in Okinawa, and after the end of the war, Norman was still in charge of the motor pool when a 110 mph typhoon struck. Norman said that he and his men had been warned of the coming typhoon and had tied down their motor pool ‘shack’ by anchoring it to a hedge on the one side, throwing ropes over the top and tying them to a six wheeled truck (deuce and a half) on the other side. They also tied ropes around the building to keep it from blowing apart. He and his men tried to ride out the storm in the building but, as the storm intensified, it was trying to lift off the ground. When they fled the building, they found the stone foundations of some of the native homes and they lay on the ground behind these foundations for the remainder of the storm. He told me that they lay there while the storm raged, then there was a calm (eye of the storm) and then it returned with equal intensity from the opposite direction. He never did tell me if the building they tied down survived the storm.
We are proud of the life he led and of his great military service. His humor and kindness
will always be treasured.
Submitted by
Sandy and Ray Pearson
(Sandy is daughter to Ray and Norma Norcross), niece of Norman’s.
I am sorry that I never knew Norman…but after reading his obituary I must say that was so well written. Condolences to family and friends…