Donald Joseph Norris

Deacon Don was born on March 16, 1950 in Washington, D.C. to Edith Norris; the 5th of 6 children, and the youngest son. He graduated from Mackin High School in Washington, DC and attended Stonehill College. He met Diane Curtis while they were working as tellers at a local bank. On May 4, 1974, he and Diane were married at St. Joseph’s Church on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. They later welcomed the birth of their children Chris and Sandra to complete their family.

Don’s IT tech work allowed the family to travel around the United States; from Washington D.C., to Santa Clara, Chicago, and Maine. Ultimately the couple settled in Rancho Cucamonga, CA where he began working in ministry at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Upland.

Deacon Don was ordained to the permanent diaconate on May 5, 2005 by Bishop Gerald Barnes, and assigned to Our Lady of Lourdes, Montclair (2005-2015), Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Rancho Cucamonga (2015-2019) and St. Joseph, Fontana (2019-2022).

Aside from his diaconate ministry, Deacon Don served as Office Manager, Bookkeeper and Business Manager at several parishes in the San Bernardino Diocese. Deacon Don played a key role in the revisioning of the diaconate program, and on November 18, 2012, he was presented with an award at the Diaconate Convocation for his work. He was also heavily involved with Catholics of African Descent and was an advocate of their importance to our Catholic community. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was a part of the Prison Ministry for years and continuously went to pray with an inmate until they were released. He regularly took communion to our sick community at San Antonio Hospital to bring Christ and prayer to them in their time of need. When not busy at work or in ministry, he relaxed by spending time completing puzzles, enjoying time with his family playing games and listening to music, especially with his three grandchildren, and in prayer throughout the day.

Deacon Don is survived by his wife of 47 years, Diane Norris; his sister, Barbara Norris Younger; his two children Chris (Rebecca) Norris and Sandra Norris; his grandchildren, Xavier Norris, Michael Norris and Maya Norris as well as his nieces and nephew, Angela Norris, Sean Younger, Nicole Wright and Aisha Abdul-Hakim.

Deacon Don will be remembered in vigil on March 16, 2022, from 5:30pm-8pm at St. Joseph’s Church in Upland, California. The funeral mass will be celebrated on March 17, 2022 at 9am at St. Joseph’s Church Upland, California. The funeral mass will also be live streamed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytLWc4XiL2k

It was very important to Don that his grandson continue his Catholic School Education. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to an educational fund for Don’s grandson, Xavier. Donations can be made to the fund in care of Chris Norris (Venmo: @chris-norris-4; PayPal: [email protected]; Mailing address: 136 Sheridan Road, Oakland, CA 94618).