Jessie H. Norton

Jessie H. ""Nanny"" Norton, 101, of Baytown passed away Monday, November 10, 2008 at St. James House. She was born March 26, 1907 in Whitney, Texas to Taylor and Viola Ivy, the tenth of eleven children. She had been a resident of Baytown since 1929.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband of 63 years, John Eldridge Norton. They were married August 8, 1924 in Lovelady, Texas. She was also preceded in death by brothers, Jack, Benjamin, Barney, Reuben and Fred; sisters, Cora, Myrtle, Beulah, Lena and Lola; son-in-law, Happy Sebesta; grandsons, Wally and David Sebesta; great grandson, Jason Herndon; and great great grandson, Weston Liebrum.

Nanny is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, John and Helen Norton, Jack and Nancy Norton and Jimmy and Illeen Norton, all of Baytown; daughters and son-in-law, Dorothy Sebesta of Joshua, Texas and Barbara and James Rachel of Dayton. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren, 31 great grandchildren, 14 great great grandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews and longtime friends.

Jessie was a devoted mother and homemaker and a member of Wooster Baptist Church. She worked and retired from GCISD from 1952-1972 as a cafeteria worker. She continued to substitute for ten more years. Her greatest hobbies were preserving garden products and quilting. She made many quilts in her lifetime for family, friends and other people in the area as well as far away Alaska. At the age of 92, she had to give up quilting because of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Thanks to her great mental ability to remember details, we have documented her hard times, happy times and lengthy life for our genealogy books of our Norton and Ivy families.

The family will receive friends at Navarre Funeral Home Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at Navarre Funeral Home with Rev. John Spurgeon officiating. Burial will follow at 2:00 p.m. at Mann Cemetery in Colmesneil, Texas.

Serving as pallbearers will be Grady Norton, Kirk Norton, Wyman Norton, Randy Norton, Ben Norton and Russell Wilson.

Arrangements are under the direction of Navarre Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 2444 Rollingbrook Dr., Baytown, TX, 77521 (281) 422-8111.