NORTON DAVID DAVIS

NORTH FERRISBURGH — The Davis family is saddened to announce the death of Norton David Davis of North Ferrisburgh, at the age of 99, on Dec. 22, 2024.

Norton was born in New York City in 1925 to Max and Minnie Davis. He lived there until he was 17, when he moved to Indiana to study electrical engineering and production management at Purdue University. While at Purdue, he was drafted into the U.S. Navy and trained to repair newly invented radar systems, though World War II ended before he was sent overseas.

Afterward, Norton worked for the military in a civilian role during the Korean War, where he helped source critical equipment that saved the lives of U.S. aviators. Later, he returned to New York to take over his father’s sweater factory. While successful in business, his first marriage ended in divorce. He met and married Maxine (Mickey) shortly thereafter.

In 1976, Norton retired and moved his family to North Ferrisburgh. During retirement, he frequently traveled as a volunteer for U.S. Foreign Aid, serving as a technical consultant to support business and factory management in developing countries.

The only child of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Norton was raised in a non-religious household. However, he attended Yiddish school and summer camp alongside public school. Surprisingly, Yiddish was his first language, and he could still speak it fluently at age 97, much to his family’s amazement. Despite any complexities in his relationship with Judaism, his love for the United States and its principles were unwavering.

Norton’s biggest regret was that he hadn’t moved to Vermont sooner. Even though he was a “flatlander,” he loved his life here and let everyone know it. He came to be a farmer and to live an outdoor life. If anyone asked, Mickey would explain that the farm was run like the one on the TV show “Green Acres,” but with much less ability. He insisted that his children learn how to work and live on the farm, and boy, they sure did.

When Ferrisburgh added the “h”, he was adamant that the fancy people were messing up the town. During his nearly 50-year run in Ferrisburgh, Norton proudly served his community as a volunteer firefighter, school-board member, Republican party chair, and Justice of the Peace. He particularly loved marrying people and his fee was always to give a donation to charity.

He was a voracious reader and attended local colleges throughout the years. He loved history and political science classes. In one class in particular, when the professor didn’t remember an historical event, he turned to Norton and asked him if he remembered. Of course, Norton did, and helped inform the rest of the class as a primary source.

If you spent literally any time at all with Norton, he would have told you that he was an engineer. Now, he never really worked as an engineer professionally, but that he saw himself this way explains a lot about how he approached life. He was a hard worker, headstrong, and often preferred to do things himself, especially when it might not have been ideal: those of us that are younger will always remember how cool it was that he would use his chainsaw on the farm up until he was 90, while those of us that are older will always remember how long it took to get him to stop. This work ethic and independence are clearly reflected in his children. With any luck, they’ll be quicker to surrender their car keys than he was.

Norton and Mickey were together for 64 years. He said that he knew one and a half hours after meeting her that she would be his wife. He always used to tell everyone that she was so indecisive that it took her two additional days to say yes. His love for her never changed.

Norton impacted many people throughout his life, none more than his children and their spouses: Barry and Charlene, Craig and Erica, Mitch and Patti, Doug and Robyn, and Lauren and Johann. The only thing that brought him more joy was time with his grand- and great-grandchildren: Jenna and Gavin, Zak and Liz, Cody and Linette, Jeff, Danny and Geraldine, Matthew and Enrica, Harper and Tasha, Tinesha and Chris, Quinn and Phil, Juliette, Ethan, Noam, Amatai, Clara, Camryn, Chase, and Enid. He also leaves many neighbors and friends who helped him along in so many ways, as well as a classic set of one-liners such as “no job is too small to not need a foreman.”

His decision to move his family from a major metropolitan area to the rural landscape of Vermont to begin farming in the 1970s was received by many as a shock. Looking back now, he wouldn’t have had it any other way … and neither would we.

Our family would like to express their sincerest thanks to Addison County Home Health and Hospice, the Veterans’ Association, Josh’s House, Live Well Home Care (for veterans), Vergennes Area Rescue Squad, Ferrisburgh Volunteer Fire Department First Responders, and the very caring and compassionate staff at the UVM Medical Center Emergency Department. If you would like to give a donation in his name, we ask you to consider Hunger Free Vermont, his favorite organization while working as a Justice of the Peace.

Arrangements are in the care of Ready Funeral & Cremation Services. To share online condolences, please visit www.readyfuneral.com. ◊