Howard Victor Norton
Howard V. "Howie" Norton, 81, of Austin, beloved husband, father and grandfather passed away peacefully on September 3, 2012, surrounded by his devoted family.
He was born to William Mercer and Carrie Anderson Norton on April 22,1931 in Bovina, Texas, where he spent much of his childhood. Later, his family moved to Quemado, Texas and eventually Atoka, Oklahoma where they raised prize-winning Black Angus cattle. He earned a B.S. in Agriculture from Oklahoma State University in 1952 and then joined the U.S. Army, serving part of his tour as an air traffic controller in South Korea. Upon his return, he earned a B.S. in Education from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 1957. Howie taught Science at Atoka High School for three years while also serving as an officer in the Oklahoma National Guard. In later years, he did graduate work at Stanford University Math Institute (Versoix, Switzerland) University of Colorado, and University of North Texas.
In 1958, Howie joined Aramco (now Saudi Aramco) as a Math and Science teacher preparing Saudi students for college abroad. He retired in 1988 as a Business Systems Analyst but felt that his most important and rewarding work was with his students, several of whom rose to positions of leadership in the world's largest oil company. His pride in his students was reciprocated in the loyalty shown by so many who kept in touch with him over five decades and visited him in retirement.
In 1961, Howie married Mary Gillis in Manama, Bahrain. On weekends, he could often be found bargaining in the local souks (markets) for ornate, though weather-beaten Kuwait chests and other wood carvings which he painstakingly restored to their original splendor. Blessed with three children, Howie was the quintessential Dad, coaching Little League and participating in their activities while expanding their horizons through visits to more than fifty countries around the world. He was passionate about travel and agreed with Mark Twain, who wrote "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness…" Howie held that many of the world's ills could be avoided through education and an appreciation for other peoples and cultures.
In retirement, his desire to promote cross-cultural understanding led him to donate books, reference materials, videos and DVDs to the library in Atoka, Oklahoma, at first concentrating on the Middle East but soon expanding to include world cultures, history, art and architecture, religions, ancient civilizations and a host of other topics of benefit to students and teachers of the humanities. For over ten years, he hand-picked each of the more than 3,000 items, overseeing shipments that the librarian described as "Christmas every week." He enjoyed chasing down missing volumes of sets he had donated and was elated to discover some years ago the final volume of Will and Ariel Durant's Story of Civilization in a tiny bookshop in Santiago, Chile.
Howie made a friend of everyone he met. A true gentleman, he will long be remembered for his integrity, kindness, selflessness, his wit and wisdom and his boundless love for family and friends. He is survived by his wife Mary, children Dan, Carrie, and Sarah and granddaughter Savannah, brother Donald M. Norton of Ft. Worth, Texas and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
A memorial service and celebration of Howie's life was held on Sunday, Sept. 16th at Onion Creek Club in Austin, TX. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Hospice Austin or Alzheimer's Association or the charity of your choice.
_____________________
Tim Barger, shares his memories of Howie.
"Danny Norton's dad (Carrie and Sarah also), Howard - Howie as we all knew him, passed away surrounded by his family on Monday. A gentle giant of a man, Howie was calm, funny and very smart but not in a show off way, he was also extremely persistent.
In 1982, near the end of my dad's life he asked me to help him with a memoir about his time in Arabia. We started but unfortunately his Alzheimer's began to manifest itself so that wasn't going to work. Instead, I extracted from his letters home during his first three years in the desert and produced a typed manuscript entitled Out in the Blue. My dad's condition deteriorated until he passed in 1984. I made a few copies of the letters at Kinko's, sent them to a few friends and went on with life, raising kids, working, the usual.
Well, Howie really liked the letters and starting around 1988, every few months he would call and chat for awhile and then he'd ask about the letters. Was I doing anything with them? I'd reply that I was meaning to do something with them and he'd say that was good. A few months later he'd call again. This went on for ten years. Never any pressure, just a friendly checking in. Finally in 1999, I got the hint, made some time and put the book together and sent him the first copy. The chain of events that Howie set off literally changed my life as I went into writing and publishing full time.
For each one of us, if we are very lucky, there will pass a few people who believe in you and with gentle persistence encourage you to believe in yourself. The first thing is to listen to them but more importantly is to learn how to be like them and encourage someone else. In my life Howie was a hero. The world needs more heroes. We can all take a cue from Howie and try to be one."
~Tim DH62
To read more about Howard and his wife Mary, please enjoy the following articles:
/articles/2003/10/howard-norton-austin-texas/
/articles/2009/03/tribute-to-mary-norton-on-her-80th-birthday/