Frances Howard Norton lived a life filled with the love of family, many friends, and the joy of enticing those around her with a newly discovered book. She died peacefully with her family Monday, Dec. 5, having recently shared the celebration of her 104th birthday via Zoom with her extended family from across the country.
Frances was born in 1918 and raised in Black Creek, N.C., along with her three siblings. Her father, Fred Howard Sr., and mother, Annie Whittaker Howard, loved North Carolina and visited the beach and the mountains frequently during her childhood, where many of the extended family remain. Her father was principal of the high school in Black Creek, and later principal in Wilson, N.C. Frances revered him throughout her life, not just as an educational leader, but as a kind and inspiring man. She credits him as instilling in her and her siblings a lifelong love of learning and scholarship.
Early on, Frances knew she wanted to be a librarian and along with her brothers and sister, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In order to afford college for the four children, her mother moved the family to Chapel Hill and operated a boarding house for other UNC students. Frances graduated from UNC in 1938 at age 19 with a bachelor of arts in library science. She began her career with the New York Public Library. She returned south to work as a librarian for the Tennessee Valley Authority during the construction of Watts Bar Dam.
During the Great Depression and for construction of the TVA dams, small communities were created to house the workers and their families. It was at this project that she met her husband-to-be, James Norton, the recreation director for the project. They were married in 1943 only to be separated soon thereafter by Jim’s military service during World War II.
Following the war, they settled in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., the childhood home of her husband. Here, they raised two children: Anna Norton Dittmann, of Las Vegas, and John Norton, of Moscow. She worked as a librarian at Lawrence County High School and nearby Summertown High School. Frances was instrumental in reestablishing an elementary school library, selecting the books and organizing a staff of volunteer parents to run that library. She was a driving force for the construction of a new Lawrence County Public Library and coordinated the construction details and landscaping for the funding donors.
In order to be closer to family in retirement, Frances and Jim left the South for Moscow in 1991 and settled into a duplex at Good Samaritan Village, finding it a perfect new home for their needs. As she had when moving to Lawrenceburg, Tenn., after the war, she easily cultivated a new circle of friends in Moscow. Frances’ gracious charm, intellectual curiosity and sincere warmth endeared her to so many.
The family wishes to thank those many kind and generous people, now friends, who welcomed and embraced her throughout the next 31 years. This includes her Unitarian friends, book club members, the friends of John and Ann Norton, and the many residents and staff at Good Samaritan Village, all of whom were part of her new village. She lived independently and in good health past her 100th birthday, an inspiration to all. In the last three years, she left her duplex behind for Good Sam’s assisted living and nursing care and the family particularly wishes to thank the staff of Good Samaritan Village for their skilled care and kindness to Frances in that time.
Frances leaves her daughter Anna Black Norton Dittmann and her husband George F. Dittmann, of Las Vegas, Nev., and her son, John Howard Norton and his wife Ann Schueren Norton, of Moscow. She is also survived by four grandchildren and their spouses: granddaughter Katherine Frances Harvey and her husband Chris Harvey with great-grandson Emmett Harvey of Reno, Nev.; grandson James Arthur Dittmann of Las Vegas; grandson Nicholas Andrew Norton and his wife Nicole Campbell and great-grandson Emil Howard Norton, of Olympia; and her granddaughter Diane Marie Norton, of Moab, Utah.
Frances will be interred in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., alongside her husband. We look forward to gathering in the spring to celebrate this long and wonderful life. And as Frances held a warm place in her heart that a book can change lives, the family suggests giving a book in her memory to someone special in your life.
