Dorothy Wagner Norton

She left us while sleeping peacefully, with her daughters by her side at the residence of her youngest daughter, Diane Thomas in Keswick, Virginia. She had witnessed incredible changes to her world for over 9 decades. She was in her 96th year of life and still a smiling bundle of energy.

Dorothy was born in Detroit, Michigan, and at the young age of 4, she traveled with her parents, Leopold and Albina, her older brother, Arthur, and Uncle Fritz and Aunt Flora by ship from the U.S. to Europe to visit relatives in the old country. It was a trip she always remembered and recalled in stories. After their lengthy stay in parts of Germany and Czechoslovakia, the family returned to the U.S. on the SS Albert Ballin with a Dorothy who was injured by a wooden swing during her travel. Today, an old black and white photograph, taken on the ship, shows her seated criss-cross front and center with a full eye patch and head bandage. Her adventures in life were just beginning!

In 1934, at the age 8, Dorothy moved to Washington, D.C, with her parents and brother. Her father gained employment as a tool and die maker, a class of machinist, in the Washington Navy Yard. Within a few years and with World War II raging overseas on two campaigns; Europe and the Pacific, she graduated from Coolidge High School in 1943 and went on to attend the then, all-women Madison College, now James Madison University, located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Dorothy stayed for one year before returning to Washington D.C. to help with the war effort by volunteering her assistance to wounded soldiers and rolling bandages at Walter Reed. At this time, she also agreed to take on a pen-pal soldier, named Robert J.L. (Bob) Norton who was from Takoma Park just outside D.C. Bob was overseas with the U.S. Army’s 653rd Signal Air Warning Battalion in England preparing to storm Omaha Beach at Normandy. He landed at the end of June, D-28, and saw action from Normandy west, clearing the Brest Peninsula and then east through the Falaise Pocket to just south of Bastogne in Villerupt, France during the Battle of the Bulge. Dorothy and Bob continued to write each other throughout the continuation of the war sending “Victory Mail” or “V-Mail” to each other along with several photographs. Not long after Bob’s Battalion arrived at the Eagles Nest near the town of Berchtesgaden in Southern Germany, they were trucked to Marseille, France. This is where his battalion secretly boarded a troop transport headed west out of the Mediterranean and unknowingly steaming southwest towards the Panama Canal. Without warning the troop carrier was redirected north in the Atlantic Ocean away from its orders to a U.S. base near Japan and onto a base camp just outside New York City in the late summer of 1945.

Unexpectedly, as Bob was heading into New York City, happy to get leave after arriving by ship, and by shear kismet, Dorothy was travelling by train to New York City with her mother’s sister, Aunt Josephine. The two were trying to get away from Washington, D.C. and have some fun. While taking in the sites of NYC, Dorothy recognized the sleeve insignia for Bob’s Army unit on several GI’s who were on the street nearby. She inquired if they knew him and they did! With instructions on where to look and a considerable amount of searching the two were running out of time before the last train back to Washington. It was then that the two noticed a GI leaning against a lamppost that resembled Bob’s in-uniform black and white photograph. Dorothy kept it with her at all times. Her Aunt approached the young GI with the photograph in-hand and asked if he was Robert Norton. Bob sprung to attention and was unsure of the purpose of this inquiry until Aunt Josephine turned and pointed to Dorothy standing across the street. It was the first time they had seen each other. The story still sends chills through me. The two dated for a time till they were married on “Flag Day”, June 14th, 1947 at the Church of the Nativity along Georgia Avenue, in NW, Washington, D.C. The two lived on P Street for a short time, then to Oglethorpe Street, until they moved out to the suburbs in Lewisdale, Maryland near the University of Maryland.

In September of 1947, Dorothy began her federal career as a clerk typist at the Treasury Department's Bureau of Federal Supply. Bob careered as an Independent Insurance Agent eventually partnering with Harold Gates of the Gates/Norton Agency in Takoma Park, very near where he was born. After the birth of their first daughter, Carolyn in May of 1950, Dorothy transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA) where she combined her talents as a clerk typist and secretary until 1952. She experienced a career interruption during the mid-50s and into the 60s with the birth of her son, Robert in 1955 and daughter, Diane in 1957. In 1971, Dorothy became encouraged by a new career opportunity and brought her talents to the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in White Oak, Maryland. The NOL as it was known, was then renamed the Naval Surface Weapons Center and later became the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC). She retired as a Supervisory Management Analyst in 1988 with a combined 22 years of honorable service to the U.S. Government.

Dorothy and Bob were members of the University of Maryland’s Terrapin Club and were surprised to be in attendance on October 19, 1957 with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip for the Maryland vs University of North Carolina football game. Maryland upset No. 14 UNC that day winning 21-7! All 3 of Dorothy’s children have since graduated from the University of Maryland.

The family took up new residence in Adelphi, Maryland in 1958. The family enjoyed the Hillandale area immensely. Dorothy loved to bowl duckpins, play canasta and bridge with neighbors, and go on Sunday rides in the country. Dorothy became involved as a Lady Lion along with Bob who was a member of the Chillum Lions Club. The whole family eventually became passionate members of the Hillandale Swim Club and either assisted or competed for the swim team. Dorothy became an avid golfer, joined a women’s golf league and eventually volunteered along with her husband to work the main scoreboard of the PGA’s Kemper Open at Avenel Country Club.

The family always loved traveling to the beaches of Ocean City, Maryland each summer. Eventually, after years of hauling children and luggage to the beach, the couple purchased a condominium at 130th Street on the Ocean! That decision led to the purchase of land and the construction of a beautiful home on the west side of Assawoman Bay in the Terns Landing development of Ocean Pines. It became a central site for the entire family and their children to meet for special events, birthdays, and seasonal holidays!

The two continued to travel and cruise the globe always finding time to show off on the dance floor. In fact, the two won the “Cha-Cha” contest while sailing on the QEII luxury liner! They were so smooth together. But most of all, they loved receiving family, children, and guests to their home. They lived on the water for 17 years until the “Duchess”, as what Dorothy was known by from Bob, lost her “Duke” in 2010 when Bob passed away. She was at his side throughout a wonderful marriage of 63 years. Dorothy said goodbye to Terns Landing and moved to Potomac, Maryland to be closer to her two daughters and son along with 4 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren and met so many lovely new friends at Victory Terrace just off of River Road. She continued to enjoy life to the fullest and never turned a good martini down. She will be dearly missed and forever she will be in our hearts and memories.

A celebration of Dorothy’s life will be put on hold in lieu of restrictions caused by the Pandemic. Dorothy will be reunited with her loving husband for their next dance when she is inurned with Bob at Arlington National Cemetery sometime in the near future.