Memorials › TSGT Benjamin Joe Norman

TSGT Benjamin Joe Norman

5 Apr 1922 – 18 Oct 2009

Birth5 Apr 1922
Death18 Oct 2009
CemeterySacred Heart Cemetery
Lott , Falls County , Texas , USA
Added by46844902 on 21 Oct 2009
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43361077

Bio

Benjamin J. Norman, 87, passed away Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009, Fort Worth. Graveside service: 2 p.m. Friday in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Lott. Visitation: Mr. Norman will lie in state noon to 8 p.m. Thursday with his family receiving friends 6 to 8 p.m. at Calvario Funeral Chapel (formerly Shannon North). Benjamin, known as B.J., was born April 5, 1922, in Lott, the oldest of nine children. Nicknamed "Sonny" by his mother, Adelia Miller Norman, he enjoyed playing basketball while in school. As a teen, B.J. was one of four young men selected from Falls County to participate in the Civilian Conservation Corps. In this government-sponsored program, he was sent to an Arizona camp where he helped develop original donkey trails, put up railings and build cabins in Grand Canyon National Park. Having learned trades of carpentry and mechanics, he enlisted in the Army to serve in World War II. As a member of the 10th Armored Division Fighting Tigers, B.J. fought in the Battle of the Bulge and, in his words, "walked across half of Europe" before the war's end. He was an infantryman and also drove a half-track, surviving a numbing cold winter when the ground was frozen so hard the tanks slid off the road. He was wounded multiple times and was awarded the Purple Heart with three oak clusters, as well as a Bronze Star, and several other service medals. After the war, B.J. returned to Texas where he married Florene Holscher on Dec. 31, 1946. They moved to Fort Sill, Okla., and later he transferred his service to the newly formed U.S. Air Force. He attained the rank of technical sergeant and traveled to many places including Nome, Alaska, Morocco, Newfoundland, Canada and Sonderstrom, and Greenland. B.J. retired at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth after 22 years of military service. After this he pursued additional long-term employment with Haliburton Industries, retiring from his second career as a tool-and-die tradesman after 20 years of service. This was only a paper retirement though, as B.J. pursued various part-time jobs including a favorite time working in a carpentry shop. He was an avid gardener, known for giant sunflowers towering among his vegetables, beside his blackberry bushes and underneath his many fruit trees. The autumn season always included time spent gathering boxes of pecans which he would crack and shell for his wife. He also found time to work on handyman projects, donate blood, and served as a volunteer with Florene delivering Meals on Wheels, "to the elderly" he would say grinning, knowing many were much younger than himself. B.J. also frequently accompanied his sons on Boy Scout trips, loading up his truck and camper with gear and hauling it to campsites for the troops. He loved to fish and spend time barbecuing. After suffering strokes and with other health issues, B.J. spent the last years of his life in a nursing home, first sharing a room with Florene, where they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. A little over two years after her passing, he succumbed at Odyssey Hospice following a brief hospitalization. "It's our final goodbye, Dad, don't take any wooden nickels!" Survivors: His loving daughters, Patricia Chung and husband, Lloyd, Parice Aziere and husband, Tim, and Rose Young, all of Fort Worth; sons, Malcolm Norman and wife, Janet, of Alvarado, Weldon Norman and wife, Bernadette, of Bedford, and Steve Norman of Fort Worth; numerous grandchildren; many great-grandchildren; and sisters, Nettie Broome of Lake Jackson, Sue Wilkey of Temple, Eleanor Steinke of Otto and Grace Norman of Marlin. Published in Star-Telegram on October 21, 2009

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