Gloria Burnsed Norton, 77, passed away Friday, November 23, 2018 at the Community Hospice Earl B. Hadlow Center for Caring after a long illness. She was born in Baldwin, FL on March 21, 1941 to the late A. Richard Burnsed and the former Dottis Bennett.
Salutatorian and Homecoming Queen of her graduating class from Baldwin High School, Gloria was that rare combination of brains and beauty, always seeking to explore any opportunity that came her way. She was a self-taught master of cooking, winning numerous contests and being twice named a National Pillsbury Bake-Off winner, as well as taking top recognition in the popular Jacksonville Journal cooking contest. She looked for any occasion to share her love of food and cooking with others, and for several years taught a cooking class at Florida Community College while also spending time on television sets, styling food for Winn-Dixie commercials among several other restaurants and stores.
Her professional career began at Prudential Insurance Company’s Jacksonville headquarters where she excelled at building relationships (she loved meeting new people and learning from them) and treating visitors to colorful tours of the historical building. During this time, Gloria met and married her husband Ray, a banker at Flagship Bank which would later become SunTrust. They had two children, Hamilton born in 1970, and Virginia in 1972. The Nortons were devoted to their children, taking them on business trips and family vacations alike, presenting them with unique experiences at every turn.
As her husband retired and her teenagers graduated from high school into college, Gloria devoted most of her time and energy to the care of her aging parents and eventually her brother, Dal, who passed away only 8 years ago. For the past 25 years, Gloria has combined her love of people and food into an enjoyable livelihood, working both in food styling and business development at White Hawk Pictures and Digital Video Arts (DVA). She has been fortunate enough to work with most local advertising agencies and businesses as well as for memorable political candidates and causes, in which she actively participated in a variety of roles: organizer, advisor, strategist, avid sign waver and event-attender. Indeed, she essentially managed her daughter’s two judicial campaigns and was instrumental in her ultimate victory.
Gloria is survived by her husband of 55 years, Raymond H. Norton; her son, R. Hamilton Norton, Jr.; and her daughter, The Honorable Virginia Baker Norton; all of Jacksonville, as well as her sister, Myrtise (Jack) Hamilton; her nephew, Hagood Hamilton, Esq.; and her niece, Dr. Laura Hamilton (Dr. Leon Khoury) all of Columbia, SC.
A graveside service, officiated by Bishop Rudolph McKissick, Sr., will be held Thursday, November 29th at 1:00pm at the Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn Cemetery located at 4801 San Jose Blvd. in Jacksonville.
Please Sign the guestbook at www.hardagegiddensoaklawnchapel.com
HARDAGE-GIDDENS, THE OAKLAWN CHAPEL, 4801 San Jose Blvd is serving the family.
