It is with great sadness we announce the sudden passing of Norm at the farm on January 27th at 92 years of age. Norm was born on October 30, 1930, in Vulcan to Bill Marshall (born in Nova Scotia in 1900) and Chloe (nee Hamilton, born in Iowa in 1904).
For Norm, life always involved farming, machines, family, friends, and good times. Gifted with innate mechanical talent, Norm was a wizard with the tools. From building his own house, to converting army surplus 4×4 trucks into front end loaders (affectionately called Doodlebugs), to building custom cabs for tractors (before cabs were standard), to converting VW Beetles into riding lawn mowers, to being one of the first to modify a floating hitch cultivator and air tank into an “air seeder”. Norm was always working on something and never really retired. Most recently, Norm fixed the transmission on the farm Doodlebug and solved the jigsaw puzzle that was reinstalling the power steering pump. Every car he ever had was the best he ever owned.
Norm lived in three places, all in Vulcan County: his grandparents’ Eastway homestead, the Corner Store (operated by his family from 1935 to 1943), and the current Marshall farm. His love for dancing resulted in a fortuitous meeting in 1954 at Alston Hall where he met the love of his life Winifred Proctor, one of the British nurse-midwives who had been recruited by Vulcan Hospital. Norm and Winnie were married on a very chilly December 3, 1955, and soon after had four children. In later years, Winnie and Norm enjoyed road trips to BC and the US with their fifth wheel. He was a hard-working and innovative farmer, dedicated family man, and fun-loving character who will be dearly missed.
Norm was predeceased by his wife Winnie in 2008 and brother Mel in 2014.
Norm leaves behind his children Maxine (Hal) Bartelen, Dolores (Herb) Harder, Marie Marshall, and Gord (Lorraine) Marshall. He is also survived by grandchildren Jeanine, Brett (Angie), Ty (Katrina), Nicole (Max), and Mackenzie (Bryton); great-grandchildren Gus, Finch, Owen, Skylar, Mason, Zayla, and Rhett; sister Ruth (Charles) Anderson; sister-in-law Charlotte Marshall; and numerous nieces and nephews, friends, and in-laws across the sea.
A celebration of Norm’s life will take place on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at Milo Community Hall from 2pm to 5pm.
Tributes in Norm’s memory may be made to the Vulcan County Health and Wellness Foundation at Box 28, Vulcan, AB, T0L 2B0 or vchw.foundation@gmail.com.
Arrangements in care of Vulcan Funeral Home. Telephone 1-403-485-2633. E-mail condolences through www.vulcanfuneralhome.ca.
Norm looks and sounds like a great guy! Someone you’d like to meet!
I found his obituary while researching my family tree. As much as I can figure out he was my second cousin once removed. I believe Bill Marshall from Nova Scotia (Pictou Co, Westville area) (Norm’s dad) was my great-uncle. When I first looked at Norm’s picture, I felt I knew him – that nose is a Marshall family trait.
FYI – if anyone asks, I now live in Didsbury AB with my husband, John.
Norm was such a humble and gentle man. A genius with his mind and hands that I really wasn’t fully aware of until yesterday at his “celebration of life” What a great chronology of his life was presented on video…bravo to his granddaughter Jenine!
Eleanor and I will miss Norm who set a great example for all of us.