Jack William Norton (1929 - 1977)

Jack William Norton (1929 - 1977)

Jack William Norton was a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was the first member of his family to join the Church. He and his wife Beverly Joyce Wood joined the Church on June 17, 1967, having sought out the missionaries following the baptism of Beverly's brother.

Jack was born in Youngstown, Mahoning, Ohio, on 31 July 1929, the second son and last of four children born to William Hiram Norton and Margaret Esther Hover. He graduated from high school and enrolled in the United States Army. His service included duty in Korea during the Korean War, where he served as a military policeman and obtained the rank of Sergeant. An interesting tidbit from his experience in the war was that Jack always complained of the noise that tanks made when they would drive by one of his checkpoints. Thirty years later, Jack's oldest son would become a commissioned officer in the United States Army as a tanker!

Following the war, in September 1955, Jack enrolled as a student at Wayne State Teachers College in Wayne, Nebraska. That fall he met Beverly, who was also a student at the College. At the end of the school year in the early summer of 1956, Jack accompanied Beverly to her home in California to meet her parents. Much to the chagrin of Bev's parents, Jack and Beverly eloped and were married at the Wayfarer's Chapel Glass Church in Portuguese Bend, California on Tuesday, July 17, 1956.

Shortly thereafter, Jack and Beverly moved to Youngstown, Ohio where Jack's family lived. The couple's oldest son, Timothy, was born there a year and a day after their marriage. Eventually Jack and Bev's family would include nine natural children and one adopted son.

While in Ohio, Jack began an apprenticeship as a lay minister in the Episcopal Church and was assigned to labor in the Detroit, Michigan area.

Later, deciding they did not wish to pursue the ministry, Jack and Bev returned to California where Jack secured employment with the Bank of America. After serving as an Operations Officer at several branches of the bank, Jack was transferred to the Bay Area where he worked at Bank of America world headquarters in San Francisco. It was while he was in the Bay Area that Jack and Bev invited the missionaries to teach the family.

Jack suffered health problems related to the pressures and stress of his work at the bank and decided to return to school to complete his education. He enrolled at Brigham Young University and, with much sacrifice from the whole family, completed a Bachelor's Degree in Speech and Dramatic Arts in August, 1972, and one year later, a Master's Degree in Communicative Habilitation in August, 1973.

Following his graduation, Jack worked for several school districts in Montana, Utah, and finally in Idaho. The family was living in Rexburg, Madison, Idaho on Saturday, June 5, 1976 when the Teton Dam burst. With just minutes to spare, they evacuated their home and hurried to higher ground on the campus of Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) as the floodwaters rushed towards them.

Their home was completely inundated by the flood and condemned as inhabitable. The family lost all of their possessions. They remained in campus housing for several months before they were able to secure emergency relief from the Federal Government (FEMA) in the form of two house trailers. They purchased property in Hibbard, just outside of Rexburg, and moved the trailers there, eventually building a home on the property.

Although not listed as a victim of the flood, Jack was never the same afterwards. He suffered from the effects of depression and the pressures of the forced evacuation. He passed away on Sunday, May 1, 1977 in the family home in Hibbard. He was just 47 years old. Jack is buried in the Rexburg City Cemetery.

Since all of the family's possessions were lost in the flood, there are almost no pictures existent. The photo attached here, taken on his honeymoon, is one of only a few that exist of Jack.