Mary Bell Norman went home to be with the Lord on October 24, 2019 at home.  Mary was born on December 30, 1927, in Lancaster, SC, to the late Franklin Pierce and Docia Threat Bell.  She is a 1944 graduate of Lancaster High School. On July 17, 1945 she married Lowe A. Norman, Jr. in Charlotte, NC. She worked to support her husband, so he could graduate college and seminary. Much later in life, she completed her degree in Secretarial Sciences at Tidewater Community College.

In addition to her parents, Mary is preceded in death by her daughter, Marie Elizabeth Norman; her granddaughter, Autumn Sunshine Norman; her daughter-in-law, Vikki Carden Norman; her grandson, Dylan Lowe Norman, and her great-grandson, David Spisak, Jr. She is also predeceased by her eight siblings, Earl Blackmon, Pauline Williams, Eldon Blackmon, Dan Blackmon, Erma Lee Henry, Ernestine Couch, Sara Lundie and Dot Hardin.

Left to cherish her memory are her loving husband of 74 years, Rev. Lowe A. Norman, Jr. of Virginia Beach, VA; sons, Ronald L. (Paulette) Norman of Fort Mill, SC; Timothy S. (Tammy) Norman of Barhamsville, VA; Richard F. (Vickie) Norman of Paeonian Springs, VA; and Jeffrey L. (Julie) Norman of Disputanta, VA. Grandchildren include Caleb Norman; David (Mindy) Spisak, Sr., Heather Ward (Chris) Sawyer, Zachary C. (Lisa) Norman, Jessie (Mandy) Ward, Zoe A. Norman; John D. (Rebecca) Norman, Beth Anne (Paul) Norman-Driskill; Crystal Norman (Wesley) Walters, and Jessica Norman (Matthew) Hall. She is survived by nine great-grandchildren, Breezy Urbanek and Molly Spisak; Emily and Peyton Sawyer; Sean and Issac Norman; Dallas, Dawson and Dayson Ward; Clara, Finley and Faith Norman; Graden Hall and Stella, Wayne and Wyatt Walters. Mary had one great-great-grandchild, Jaxtyn Holder.

She also leaves behind her very special friend of sixty years, Pearl Moyers-Dean and her husband, John as well as her dear friend in recent years, Tiffani Mello and her husband Brian. She was also blessed to have a wonderful team of care providers, led by Debbie Mianulli, to care for her and her husband in their home.

Mary was a conscientious civil servant with the City of Chesapeake for three decades, serving as secretary to the Detective Bureau in the Police Department for the City of Chesapeake. She then served as a Secretary to the Department of Environmental Safety until her retirement in 1992. She completed her degree at Tidewater Community College attending classes at night, while working during the day.

In addition to her career, Mary was a life-long seamstress. She loved to crochet and knit as well. She was also accomplished in arts and crafts and painted portraits as well as landscapes. She started Merry Bell’s Preschool in the Green Run Baptist Church and operated there for about twenty years.  Mary enjoyed traveling with her husband and family. She and her husband had a permanent RV spot at The Anchor Baptist Campground in Currituck, NC. She was a member of the Red Hat Club of Virginia Beach and the Tidewater Decorative Painters Guild. The wife of a Baptist minister, she was very involved as a Sunday School and VBS teacher, and she was a Girls Auxiliary and Women’s Missionary Union leader. She served alongside her husband at Red Mountain Baptist Church in Rougemont, NC; Woodville and Riverside Baptist Churches, Elizabeth City, NC; Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Chesapeake, VA and helped found a new church, Green Run Baptist Church, in Virginia Beach, VA. In their retirement years, the Normans were active members of St. John’s Baptist Church (Virginia Beach). Mary loved all flowers but had a special affection for roses. She also loved to entertain for family and friends and was known for her large and lavish Christmas parties.

Visitation will be on Monday, October 28, at St. John’s Baptist Church, 2300 Holland Rd, Virginia Beach, from 10:00 a.m. until noon with funeral services immediately following. There will be a luncheon for friends and family in the church social hall following the service.  A second service will be held on Wednesday, October 30, at Camp Creek UMC in Lancaster, South Carolina at 11:00 a.m. with burial following in the church cemetery. A luncheon in the church fellowship hall will follow the burial.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the St. John’s Baptist Church Building Fund.