- Date Of Birth: October 31, 1925
- Date Of Death: November 18, 2021
- State: Florida
Cocoa Beach, FL – Chester Reid Norris, 96, of Cocoa Beach, FL, formerly of North Andover, MA, passed away peacefully on Thursday, November 18, 2021, with his family by his side in the Beach house that he built.
Born in Wellesley, MA, Chet was the son of the late Mary E. Reid and Chester A. Norris. Chet was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He is survived by Mary, his wife of 62 years; his 6 children, Michael (Laurie), Patrick (Anne), Kelly Anne (Walter), Reid (Kim), Sean, and Deirdre (Geoff); and 9 grandchildren, Carolina, Miles, Kelly, Molly, Valeska, Sam, Reid, Delanie, and Keira.
Chet was a proud veteran of the United States Navy (Go Navy, Beat Army!) and was drafted during his senior year of High School at age 18. He boarded the Queen Mary on February 14, 1944, and joined his crew in England on the landing ship LST309. On June 6, 1944 (D-Day) they landed on Omaha Beach, Normandy, France which was the beginning of the end of World War II.
Once honorably discharged, Chet went back and finished High School at the age of 23. After a short stint with the Pittsburg Pirates farm league, he used the G.I Bill and finished his education earning an Electrical Engineer degree from the Wentworth Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts graduating in 1956. In 1959 Chet relocated to Cocoa Beach, FL and was employed with American Bosch Arma Corp. for 8 years. He worked with NASA for 35 years as Chief of Guidance and Control, then worked for the Aerospace Corp. for 10 years.
Chet’s family and friends will always remember him as a caring, compassionate, and giving person. He loved his family, dogs (and sometimes cats), and enjoyed time sailing and island hopping in the Bahamas for over 15 years.
