Lois Jane Moore Norton, of Nantucket, Massachusetts, formerly of New Hartford, Connecticut, passed away on May 22, 2013, at Our Island Home; she was 91 years old.
Lois was born in Los Animas, Colorado, on November 27, 1921. Her early life as the child of a U.S. Army officer took her to Oklahoma, Kentucky, Hawaii, Maryland, Fishers Island, Cape Cod and Rhode Island. While living at Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island, she met John Norton and they married on January 29, 1944.
In 1946, she followed her husband to post-war Manila, Philippines, and Tokyo, Japan. While in Tokyo, she was honored with an invitation to visit the Imperial Palace on June 27, 1947, with her parents and husband. During the Korean Conflict, she lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, until she joined her husband again in Japan. They returned to the U.S. in 1953, then moved to Mannheim, Germany, in 1955. After her husband’s European tour of duty was over, they returned stateside to New Britain, Connecticut.
Lois was much more than just a wife and mother. She began working for the American Red Cross in 1942 in Newport, Rhode Island, where she served as the secretary to the field director. After she married, she was a Red Cross Volunteer nurse’s aide and acting field director at a small Army base in Delaware. She continued to serve the ARC during her second visit to Japan between 1951 and 1953.
In the 1960s she took a position as the assistant executive director of the New Britain, Connecticut, Chapter of the American Red Cross. Her many hats included co-director of Disaster Services, director of Service to Military Veterans and their families and director of Safety Services.
After she retired from the American Red Cross, she and her husband sailed their 30-foot sloop to Georgetown, Grand Exuma, in the Bahamas. For the next 10 years, they spent their winters living on the boat and sailing through the Bahamas and snorkeling.
After the death of her husband in 1988, she lived in New Hartford, Connecticut, until she moved to Nantucket in 2010.
Lois is survived by her son John H. Norton Jr. of Warren, Vermont, and his wife Roni Donnenfeld; her son Richard E. Norton of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and his wife Valerie B. Norton; and her daughter Terry L. Norton of Nantucket, Massachusetts. She leaves five grandchildren, Aaron B. Norton, Elise N. Waldman, Ian H. Robertson, Emily T. Norton and Everett T. Norton, and four great-grandsons.
A memorial service will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 20 Fair Street, Nantucket, on June 1, 2013, at 2 p.m. She will be interred alongside her husband of 44 years in New Hartford, Connecticut.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund online at www.redcross.org/charitable-donations, the National MS Society online at www.nationalmssociety.org/donate/index.aspx, or the Alzheimer's Association online at www.alz.org/join_the_cause_donate.asp.
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