Obituary : Gloria M. (Authier) Norton
Gloria M. Norton of Edgartown died on March 18 at Martha's Vineyard Hospital with her family at her side. She was 88. She was the beloved wife of John Warren Norton who predeceased her in 2007.
Gloria was born in Rochester, the daughter of Joseph Authier and Olivia Piche Authier. The family moved to the Vineyard, then to Nantucket, and back to the Vineyard and settled on Tashmoo Avenue in Vineyard Haven. Gloria attended and graduated from Tisbury High School in 1938. During her high school years her sisters Yvonne and Dora owned and operated a restaurant, The Modern Lunch, in Vineyard Haven, where Gloria worked and met the love of her life, Warren Norton. They were married on March 25, 1940 and celebrated 67 years of marriage. On June 20, 1952 they adopted their son Bobby.
Gloria was active in and out of the home. She loved fishing and quahogging and loved to cook. She had gone quahogging as recently as this past September at the age of 88 with her niece and nephew from Vermont who would take her every year.
She was active in her church, St. Elizabeth's in Edgartown. She was president of the St. Elizabeth's Guild, started the Organ Fund, and baked many pies for the church fairs they had every year. Her apple pies and raspberry jam were blue ribbon winners at the Agricultural Fair in West Tisbury.
Gloria worked at the First National Food Store, she was a telephone operator in Edgartown, worked at the post office, and then worked for 20 years at the Edgartown Hardware store.
Gloria just loved life, loved people, loved cooking, and her door was always open and wonderful smells always coming from her kitchen. Her family and friends were everything to her and she liked nothing better than a gathering where she could cook for all of them. If someone in town were sick, she'd make them some kind of dish and bring it to them. She always had a crowd on her patio for the fourth of July and her Super Bowl parties grew over the years. She loved her cats, her gardening, the beach, and would always make time to go with her brother, Roland Authier, out on his boat, the Vineyard Maid.
Gloria was a warm friendly soul with an infectious smile who touched many over the years with her warmth, kindness, and compassion, and she will never be forgotten. Her family gathered after her funeral and this time she did not have to cook.
She is survived by her son Robert W. Norton of Edgartown and many, many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband John Warren Norton; her brothers Joseph, Raymond, and Roland Authier; her sisters Dora Beauchemin, Yvonne Hickey, and Viola Lopes.
A funeral service was held on March 21 at Our Lady Star of the Sea, and was celebrated by Gloria's nephew, the Rev. Thomas Lopes, and Father Michael Nagle. Funeral arrangements were under the care of Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, and burial was at New Westside Cemetery in Edgartown.
Donations can be made to Windemere Nursing Facility, P.O. Box 1747, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557, Hospice of Martha's Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 or the MSPCA, P.O. Box 2097, Edgartown, MA 02539.
