With heartfelt sympathy and caring prayers for you and your family. With our sympathy and love, Ron and Coleen Brown
Reading Tom's account of Uncle Tom (Elvis) singing to wake him up in the morning made me realize that it ran in the family. My mom (his sister) would do the same thing to us, but it was not pleasant. She would come in and sing loudly in an off-key voice "Rise and shine, if you can take it! Rise and shine, life's what you make it!". Today is her birthday and she and her brother will be together. Maybe Grandpa Norman used to sing to wake THEM up. I wouldn't be surprised.
My fondest memories of Uncle Tom from when I lived at their house for a few months as a child. I was Laurie Bur-Bur, and I don't know why. He was a very sweet man.
Another dare. At the same Long Pond Family Restaurant. This time we bet that he wouldn’t put on a Viking helmet that was on display. He put on the Viking helmet; we lost the bet.
Dad was known for his sense of humor. Picture was taken at one of his favorite restaurants. The Long Pond Family Restaurant. We dared him to wear his reversible jacket with a gaudy insides, showing on the outside. So he did.
Jeff and I both remember the way Dad would wake us up for school each day. But we did NOT love it at the time. Here’s what Dad would sing to us:
“It’s time for little bunnies to get up and go to school.”
“It’s time for little bunnies to obey the Golden Rule.”
“It’s time for little bunnies to go hippity, hop, hop, hop.”
“It’s time for little bunnies to go to the bus stop.”
Now what kid wouldn’t just love to hear that song every morning before school???
A lesson in life my brother and I learned from Dad that we we should NOT follow. We were vacationing in Florida. On one particularly hot & sunny day he suggested that using “baby oil” might be a good way to minimize getting sunburned. So Jeff & I slathered on the “baby oil”. Bad idea. Turned out that actually intensified the sunburn we got.
One of my favorite pictures. Grandpa (Thomas G. Norman), Dad (Thomas S. Norman), me (Thomas G. Norman II), and my oldest son (Thomas G. Norman III).
Another lesson of life Dad taught me was the value of taking care of things. Such as vehicle maintenance. I remember him telling me when I got my first very own car. “Son, the way to make that car last a long time is to change the oil and filter”. He said that approach worked on virtually everything. “Take care of it, don’t abuse it, and it’ll last a long, long time”. Dad was right. Like he was right on so many things.
Some lessons of life Dad taught me. He taught me integrity. At one time he was an umpire in Little League, and was officiating a game I was in. As luck would have it, I was “at bat” in the last inning, with the bases loaded. Two outs. Long story short, Dad called me out on strikes. Had to have been a tough call. But he was right, The final pitch was a good one and he made the right call.
Dolores and I visited Dad earlier yesterday afternoon. He nodded his head “yes” when Dolores asked him if he wanted some water. So I got a cup of water from the cafeteria area. And Dolores held the cup to help him drink a tiny bit. Neither of us knew at the time that this would be the last thing we did for him. Love you Dad.
Dolores and I visited Dad on the day he passed. He nodded his head “yes” when Dolores asked him if he wanted some water. So I got a cup of water from the cafeteria area. And Dolores held the cup to help him drink a tiny bit. Neither of us knew at the time that this would be the last thing we did for him. Miss you Dad.
He was such a wonderful, caring man. From the very first time I met him, he made me feel a part of the Norman clan and he welcomed me with open arms into the family. I loved hearing him sing – he had such a beautiful voice. I remember him singing the “Little Bunny Song” to get Jeff out of bed when he slept in when we were visiting them two years ago. That was the way he had gotten Jeff out of bed when he was a little kid, but I know he really loved hearing him sing the song as well. Love you, Dad - you will live on in our hearts.
What a great grandpa. He always knew what we were up to and was so kind and loving. One of my favorite memories was when he and grandma were visiting and he wanted to get all our activities on camera, so he carried his camera all day to each place we went, an amusement park, several sports games ect. We were all looking forward to seeing the video he got, only when we sat down to watch it became apparent that he had pushed stop each time he meant to record and pushed record as the camera hung from his shoulder, so all we saw of our weekend was him walking around, his feet the only thing in frame and just as he was going to tilt the camera up to film something, he would turn it off. It was so funny, we were all laughing. He always put a smile on our face and always gave such positive loving support. We will miss you greatly!
What can I say besides he was always there, whether it be for cheering for me in little league, loaning me money for my first motorcycle, tutoring me in statistics for college or supporting my choice to go into the Marines. Through all the years we spent together as father and son I think my fondest memory will always be pitching to him when he came home from a hard say at work... he was never too tired to catch my often errant pitches. That's how I'll remember him... always acting like I hurt his glove hand. Love you, Dad...
What can I say besides he was always there, whether it be for cheering for me in little league, loaning me money for my first motorcycle, tutoring me in statistics for college or supporting my choice to go into the Marines. Through all the years we spent together as father and son I think my fondest memory will always be pitching to him when he came home from a hard say at work... he was never too tired to catch my often errant pitches. That's how I'll remember him... always acting like I hurt his glove hand. Love you, Dad...
You will be very missed. Love, Your Princess Jasmine.
Dolores, I was sadden to read about Tom's passing. When in 1956 Marian and I arrived from Penn State to work for Kodak, Tom was one of the first people to embrace us as friends and to invite us into his family. We worked together on a daily basis on the job and socially until he retired in the 1980's. I'm so sorry for your loss and may God bless you, Love Nick
My dad, Robert Brown, and Tom grew up together. They went to school together. Both joined the service. Both went to University of Michigan. They stayed friends all through life. Thanks for the pictures of my dad with Tom. I bet they are having one heck of a golf day as I write this. Delores and family, I'm so sorry for your loss. Be thankful for all the beautiful years that you had him here on earth. So sorry, Alison Vandertang (daughter of Bob & Janet Brown)
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