In Remembrance of Sue Norville

Sue Norville was a wonderful, giving person. A line from her February 10 Obituary fits her perfectly “No one was ever a stranger, and they (Sue and Julian) often opened their home for people needing a meal or a place to stay”. For over 35 years, when I had friends, family, or geology students visit or work with me in the Cardwell area, Sue made a place for us in her house or trailer and fed us, sometimes for several weeks. She put Carolyn and me up and fed us when our own house at Lucy’s Corner was being rented out. We will always remember her energy and enthusiasm for visitors she did not already know, even when she was busy with ranch activities and caring for her own family.

Sue first babysat our son Charlie when he was less than a year old. She charged a minimal amount because, she said, she just loved babies. When she looked after him again the following summer, in 1983, Sally asked if he would remember them. Sue replied that he would find it easy to love others because of their love for him. He is now the happy father of a blended family of four teens. In the fall of 1984 when we were staying in our own place, but busy with geology research, she would pick Charlie up every morning when she drove her school bus on the Armstrong Road, look after him all day, and deliver him home after she let off the school children. Charlie remembers collecting grasshoppers in the backyard and putting them in a large coffee can. In the evening after he was at home, those grasshoppers would hop and bang around in that can in the kitchen!

Another memorable thing we always liked about Sue was her love of dogs and cats. There was always a dog or two, and several cats in and out of the house to keep us and all our friends and family entertained.