Clarence William "Shorty" Norton's Obituary
Clarence William “Shorty” Norton, age 93, passed from the life November 15, 2016. Services are scheduled for Saturday, November 19 at 10 am at the Chapel of Rader Funeral Home with Rev. John Lindsay and Mark G. Adams officiating. Burial will follow at Grace Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Norton was born July 1, 1923 to Scott Jerome and Minnie Ridge Norton at Bethany Center, NY, the eldest of two sons. He attended school at Bethany Center, Batavia and graduated from Alexander Center in 1941. After graduation, he built a shop on the family farm; working on the farm days and doing repairs and welding at night. In 1947, he began working for Climax Corp. in Batavia, NY. On October 22, 1947, he married Dawn Marilyn Dohse and they lived happily together for 47 years. To this union was born Harry Lewis, Deborah Louise, Kim Elaine and John Jerome. Baby Harry, wife Dawn, son John, his mother and father and brother, Harold preceded him in death. In July 1961, he moved his family to Longview, TX where he has resided since. He worked for R. G. LeTourneau in the Steel Mill until his retirement in 1985. Prior to retirement, he and his wife began to do woodcrafts and set up at First Mondays in Canton to sell them until January 1995 when Dawns health Declined. After lovingly caring for her until her death on February 17, 1995, he began to volunteer at Longview Cancer Center, giving back to those who gave to Dawn and continued to volunteer for 17 years. He made name plates for each employee, did minor repairs and many patients had a better day by his ministering to them. In 1996, he met fellow volunteer Jean Adams and they were married on February 14, 1997 in a ceremony at the Cancer Center Community Room in uniforms, arranged and attended by their family and friends. They were blessed to have 19 fun filled years together, at one time or another traveling all over the U.S. Soon after, he began to volunteer at Longview Regional Medical Center with his wife Jean, mostly on weekends for 15 years. In 2001, Clarence and Jean took the Citizens Police Academy, rode with Police Officers and became an active members of C.P.A.A. Also in 2001, they took the Fire Citizens Academy, which was of great interest to him as he was a former Volunteer Fireman in Bethany, NY 1940-1961. They were able to ride out with the fire stations as well as spend time with them, making wooden fire engines for their quarters. In 2012, Clarence and Jean were awarded the Community Builders award from the Pine Tree Masonic Lodge and in 2013 they were given the Healthcare Volunteer of the Year award from the Longview Chamber of Commerce. He was a Cumberland Presbyterian by faith and long-time faithful member of the Pin Tree Cumberland Presbyterian Church where he was an Elder Emeritus and attended services at Northeast Church of Christ with his wife.
Left to cherish his memory are wife Jean; daughter Debbie Jones; her daughter Cheryl Evans and daughter Jessie; her daughter Crystal and son in law Daniel Knight and daughters Kaylah and Allie; great great granddaughter, Kinlee Ledbetter; daughter Kim Schuette of Longview; granddaughter, Jennifer Weinland and grandson, Josh Schuette. And god daughter, Sandy and husband Ken Downs of Springfield, NH; step children, Mark and Ky Adams and family of Clear Lake, TX; Jon and Kim Adams and family of Dallas, TX; Lisa and Richard Longoria and Family of Austin, TX; numerous cousins in NY and AZ and a host of friends. He was a loving husband and father and respected by all who knew him. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Volunteer program at Longview Cancer Center, 1300 North 4th St. Longview, TX 75601 or the family or Pine Tree Cumberland Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 5340 Longview, TX 75608. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 pm Friday, November 18 at Rader Funeral Home.
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