Teresa Charlene (Gray) Norman
Teresa Charlene (Gray) Norman, age 90, passed away peacefully at her home in Jayess, February 28, 2018. She was born in Jacksonville, Maine, July 21, 1927, to Grace D. Gray and Maxwell E. Gray. They preceded her in death, as well as her husband, William Randolph Norman; sister and brother-in-law, Gwendolyn and Bruce Trenholm; sister-in-law, Rosanne Gray; step-mother, Phyllis Gray; step-brother, Joe Morrill and many beloved aunts, uncles and cousins.
She is survived by her daughter, Glenda, and son-in-law, Mike Boyd, of Jayess; a brother, Kenneth Gray, of Hermon, Maine; half-brother, Maxwell Gene Gray of Machias, Maine and step-sister, Mary Beal, and brother-in-law Bill Beal of Davenport, Florida. Also surviving are three nieces and their families, Priscilla Frennette, Cynthia Little and Nancy Delong, all of Maine.
Charlene or “Charlie” grew up in Jacksonville, Maine, attending the Jacksonville Methodist Church and the summer campmeetings on Gardners Lake. In Maine, she attended Washington Academy in East Machia and graduated in Corinna. Later, she lived in Hermon, where she met her future husband, Bill, on a blind date in Kentucky. She was proud to be an Air Force wife and traveled and lived in different parts of the country and also the Philippines. There she learned how to oil paint and gave away many of her works to friends and family throughout her life. She worked as a beautician and later for the Civil Service as a commissary cashier. She and her husband settled in Jacksonville, North Carolina, after he retired from the Air Force and lived there for forty years. She moved from North Carolina to Mississippi in 2002 to be near her daughter, Glenda, and son-in-law, Mike, and continued to visit Maine every summer until 2008. Charlene was a member of the Easter Star, the Susannah Wesley Guild and the East Machias Campmeeting Association. She dearly loved the East Machias Campmeetings on Gardners Lake and was a proud owner for 30 years of the cottage that was built in 1898 for her grandmother, “Millie” Hanscom Gray.
She enjoyed calling and corresponding with people near and far, making lifelong friends anywhere and everywhere. She was truly a people person who never met a stranger. She had a passion for genealogy and ancestry and amassed a large amount of information and photos that she shared with all who asked, even up to a few weeks before her passing. She kept her records in what she called her playroom. Along with her love of oil painting, she enjoyed gardening, bird watching, photography, sewing, reading and writing. She once remarked she had never been bored a minute in her life. She had a wonderful, sweet personality and great sense of humor. She will be missed by all those she touched. Her family and friends were her greatest joy, pride and treasures.
It was her request that there be no funeral service. Interment will be at Greer Cemetery in Jayess and also in Warren Memorial Cemetery in Blounts Creek, North Carolina, next to her husband, Bill. The family is grateful to the staff of Camellia Home Health and Hospice for their kind care and compassion to Ms. Teresa, as they called her. A special heartfelt thank you to Lori Bell, Sheryl Cotton and Robbie Greer for their help and love shown to her and her family in her final days on earth.
