Eugene Wesley Norris

Eugene W. Gene Norris departed Earth on March 27, 2007, and is reunited with his beloved wife and copilot of 55 years, Johnetta Jan Norris, who preceded him in death on March 29, 2004. He is survived by his sister-in-law Ruth Norris of Lake Forest, CA and two nephews, Jon Norris of Redmond WA and Charles Norris of Yuma, AZ. Gene was born in Wichita, KS on March 15, 1915 and discovered his love of all things aviation at age 8 with his first flight as a passenger in a WWI "Jenny" biplane on a sightseeing flight over Enid, OK. He won a glider pilot scholarship in high school then began powered flight training in an OX-5 powered Travel Air biplane. He graduated from New York University in 1936 as an aeronautical engineer and began his 50 year career in the aircraft manufacturing industry. In WWII, he served as a Technical Director for the Aerospace Industries Association, as liaison between the Army-Navy Aeronautical Board and the aircraft manufacturing industry and as a member of the U.S. Aeronautical Standards Mission to Britain in 1944. He had a distinguished career in the aeronautical industry. He worked as an Engineering VP with Luscombe Airplane Co., a representative in Washington D.C. for the Flight Safety Foundation, a distributor for SA Cessna Aircraft, an Airworthiness Staff Engineer with Boeing and served as a Director with Boeing International Corp in London. He was an Associate Fellow of AIAA, a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society UK, Alamo Heights Rotary Club, Quiet Birdmen, OX-5 Club, and flew over 4500 hours as a private pilot. He will be remembered for the mutual love and devotion he and Jan shared they truly were soul mates, his sense of humor and whimsy and, of course, his love of flying and planes.