12/16/1921 – 11/21/2022

Joe Norwood died on November 21 at the age of 100. He was born in Mount Airy, NC to Ralph and Katherine Norwood on December 16, 1921. He was predeceased by his parents, sister Betty, brother Ralph, daughter Kit, and grandson Brent. Joe met his wife of 76 years, Elaine, at Mitchell Field, Long Island, NY. She invited him to a Women’s Army Corps dance and as it is said, “The rest is history“!  After discharge, he went to North Carolina State under the G.I. Bill and graduated with a Textile Engineering Degree. After several job changes, they moved to Greenville where he worked for the Ralph E Loper company until retirement.

Joe had a great interest in the outdoors and all of its wonders. The Greenville Natural History hiking club kept these interests alive and he shared them with his kids. After retirement, Elderhostel trips, hiking, plays, discussion groups, and tennis filled his time. He played tennis well into his 80s and exercised in the pool into his 90s. When he could no longer see to read or do crossword puzzles, he entertained us with songs, stories, poems, and silly ditties. Joe is survived by his wife Elaine, daughter Sue (Jim deceased), sons Joe (Gail) and Mark (Susan), sister Nancy, grandsons Greg and Jonathan, and great-grandchildren Charlotte, Caroline, Charlie, Lilly, and Julia.

Obviously, he was obsessed with heaven since one of his often repeated rhymes was: “If you wanna go to heaven, I’ll tell you how to do it. Just grease your feet with mutton suet. Step right over ol’ Satan‘s hand, and slide right into the promised land. Go greasy, slide easy!”

A memorial service will be held at the Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Saturday, December 17th at 2:00 PM.