ELLIOTT: Norris A., 72, of Lyndonville, passed away Saturday,
June 28, 2003 at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in
Lebanon, N.H. He was born in St. Johnsbury, April 25, 1931,
the son of Arthur and Cora Louise Elliott. Norris enjoyed flying
and at age 14 flew solo flights over their home in Bradford.
Later he had a senior pilot's license and flew for a brief period
out of Caledonia Airport. After graduating from the University of
Vermont, he returned to Lyndon where he operated a small
dairy farm, but he soon became a biology and vocational tech
teacher at Lyndon Institute. While teaching he also started a
number of businesses, including a poultry farm in 1957, a
summer catering service featuring chicken barbecues, and, in
1964, a small greenhouse at the current site of Elliott's
Greenhouses on Rte. 122. His career after teaching included a
position as business manager at Lyndon Institute and then
tricounty extension agent for UVM's Extension Service. After
earning his MBA from UVM he moved to Burlington to become
the Vermont Small Business Development Center director. His
love of horticulture kept him busy. During this period he also
built and operated a retail garden center on Rte. 100 in Stowe.
After retiring from UVM he built a greenhouse near Bradenton,
Fla., where he specialized in the propagation of geraniums, the
same crops his parents grew in the original greenhouse located
on 170 Dandelion Lane in Lyndonville. Last spring Norris grew
over 50,000 geraniums for the Lyndon garden center. Returning
north every summer, Norris helped his son Steven and
daughter-in-law Carolyn expand the garden center in Lyndon
Center. They have extensive plans for continued growth and
community service for their garden center, to continue on in
Norris' tradition. Staff and customers always enjoyed seeing
him there, for his knowledge and his keen wit. Norris served on
the board of directors of the Northern Community Investment
Corp. for several years. Other local services included the
Lyndon Outing Club, Future Farmers of America, and trustee of
Lyndon Institute. He is survived by two sons, Steven of Lyndon,
and Richard of Fair Haven, Mass., who works in the U.S.C.G.
Marine Safety Office in Newport, R.I.; daughters-in-law Carolyn
and Ann Marie; grandchildren Mickaela and Hillary, and Bryan
and Kimberly; and his companion, Karlene Smith of Glover and
Parrish, Fla. Norris' sister, Connie Simpson, predeceased him.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be
made to Lyndon Institute for the reconstruction and
landscaping of the vocational campus. Please contact Steven
Elliott at 802-626-3634. As of this writing, the family hopes to
have a memorial service at the family farm in Lyndon, with a
reception following, on Saturday, July 5. Further details will
follow in The Caledonian-Record and will be available from the
funeral home, 802-626-5600.
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