Norman was born in Whitehall, MI, on May 15, 1933, the son of L.J. and Florence (Wait) Strayer. He graduated from Wayland High School in 1952. Norman married Geraldine (Jerry) Marie Timm on July 13, 1957, in Centerville, MI. Norman was a Pipeline welder (in 6 states and Canada), sold real estate and ended the last 20-plus years of his working career in his dream job as an Associate Professor of Welding Technology at Lansing Community College.
In addition, Norm and Jerry co-owned Chicago Point Resort on Gun Lake, where they made many friends over the years. To this day, renters laugh when they remember Norm’s potato guns, pyrotechnic skills, golf cart excursions, and his unending quest for the Thornapple River. Norm loved to work with his hands; he was a master-tinkerer and inventor. As a woodworker, many of us were recipients of whirligigs, furniture, bird-feeders, and many other objects pulled from his imagination. He loved teaching welding, telling jokes and spinning yarns. He was an avid fisherman. He lived by the philosophy that if you talk to someone long enough you will find a common connection.
Norman was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Jerry, parents, L.J. and Florence (Wait) Strayer and a sister, Dorothy.
Norman is survived by daughters: Susan (Richard) Carlson of Shelbyville; Connie (Jeffrey) Levanseler of Chelsea; Kimberlee (Steve) Blair of Lansing; and Deborah (Matthew) Hanson of Martinsville, Indiana; honorary son, and brother to his daughters, Roy Bailiff (Cindy) of Grand Ledge, Michigan; seven grandchildren, Samantha Blair (Joe Baldwin), Andrew Levanseler, William Carlson, Taylor Boshoven (Nick), Michaela Levanseler, Gwyneth Hanson, and Aiden Hanson; and one great-grandchild, Maverick Boshoven. He is also survived by brother, Donald Strayer and sister-in-law’s Marguerite Strayer and Faith Timm, along with many nieces and nephews.
Private family services and burial are pending. A Celebration of Life will take place early summer at Gun Lake, announcement forthcoming.
Memorials can be made to Redeemer United Methodist Church of DeWitt, The Catholic Community of St Jude Dewitt or the Michigan Parkinson’s Foundation, 30400 Telegraph Rd, Suite 150, Bingham Farms, MI 48025.
