Norma Gladys Hoyt

It is with great sadness that we announce our loss.

Norma died peacefully after a long, brave battle with Parkinson’s.

Born in Pleasant Point, Nova Scotia, Norma was the daughter of the late Douglas and Viola Slaunwhite. She was predeceased by her husband Clifford, her brother Lloyd, her sons John and Stephen, and her great grandson Jace.

Norma is survived by her daughter Suzanne ( Peter Budreski); sons Randy ( Tammy), Leonard ( Judy), Michael ( Heather); daughter in law Paula ( Leo Gamoulakos); grandchildren Carolyn Budreski ( Jonathan Chartrand), Amanda Durling (Daniel), Justin ( Jillian Dollmont-Caines), Joel ( Cyndi), Jana Kreilein ( Conrad), Jordan (Grace MacCormick), Scott ( Kathryn McNeil), Daniel, Kristin (Adam Hearn), Sean, Chelsea ( Henry Colin), Sarah ( Lucas MacInnis), Thomas, Luke; and her great grandchildren Brayden, Malcolm, Tyler, Zoey, Jackson, Jett, Jagr, Ronan and Rory.

Norma grew up in Pleasant Point and Halifax. She was a top student, and ran track in school. She met her future husband Clifford at Queen Elizabeth High School in Halifax. Norma spent the first part of her adult life raising a large family with him.

It was very important to Norma and Cliff to fill their children’s’ lives with sports; activities; lessons and experiences that they didn’t have growing up. They spent many years catering to their children: running them to pools; rinks; gymns; fields; ski hills…… teaching them to ride horses, to water ski…. and travelling WITH their children in “Emmy” the motorhome. Norma sewed, knitted, refinished, reupholstered, decorated, gardened, cleaned, cooked, baked, looked after farm animals, organized, dispatched, taxied, and tutored. Her family benefited from organizational and management abilities that would have impressed ANY company!

When all of her children were in school, Norma went back to school herself, taking high school courses, then enrolling in Mount St. Vincent where she obtained top grades.

Norma continued to apply her love of learning and determination to every new endeavour. She took many classes and read MANY how-to books. She created perfectly tailored suits. She produced embroidered works of art on her computerized machines to give to her family. Her beautiful gardens were the result of many hours of research and physical labour. (She split and shared her plants, so her childrens’ gardens would always hold a part of her- even those persistent Grandma’s bluebells….. and she learned how to dry the flowers and gave away her arrangements).

Norma and Cliff moved to a new home on the Northwest Arm in the late 1970’s. The speed restriction on the water led them to trade their powerboats for sailboats. They learned to navigate offshore, and sailed throughout the Atlantic and the Caribbean. It was during one of their sailing trips that they discovered the Punta Gorda Isles on the Gulf coast of Florida, and surprised their family with the news that this trip’s souvenir was a Florida home.

Norma and Cliff travelled extensively after their children were older. They would arrive home happy, exhausted and full of stories.

In her sixties, Norma became a participant instead of a spectator at the rink. She learned to figure skate- including the preliminary ice dances, and enjoyed many years of senior skates at various rinks. She learned to windsurf. She bought a wetsuit so that she could swim in the early autumn. She practiced driving their much smaller motorhome, so that she could take turns driving with Cliff.

After selling her home, Norma lived for several years at Melville Heights, then at Lewis Hall, Parkland at the Lakes. We cannot express how grateful we are to the staff of both places for their great care, and loving compassion.

Due to Covid restrictions and the size of Norma’s family, a reception and service for the family only will be held at Snows Funeral Home on Lacewood Drive in Halifax on Wednesday August 25th starting at 10:30am. The service will be available through a livestream that will begin at 12:00pm