Norman Lloyd Caldwell

Norman Lloyd Caldwell, passed peacefully into his eternal home on Sunday, August 23, 2020. He was the beloved son of Herbert and Dona Maie (née Fincher) Caldwell. He is survived by his beloved wife of 72 years Violette Lenore (née Swenson). He was the devoted father of his sons: Douglas (Judith), Bruce (deceased) and Daniel (Megan). He was the loving Grandfather of Dawn (née Caldwell) Shady, Julie (née Caldwell) Gynn, Matthew, Tyler, Carson and Callie Caldwell and Cole Griggs, Melissa Espinol, Jenn (née Keiger) Negri, Chris Keiger and proud Great Grandfather of Emma and Samantha Shady and Hadley Gynn. He was the dear brother of 7 siblings, Kenneth and deceased: Lucille, Francis, James, Jolene, Marvin, Bobby.

Norman was born in Moore County, near Carthage, NC on Dec. 29, 1925. There was no electricity, plumbing and no modern farming equipment. He graduated from Carthage High School in 1943. On June 5 of that same year, after finally memorizing the eye exam chart (he couldn’t read it without his glasses), he left the farm at 17 to join the Navy during WW II. He served as an aviation metalsmith and was stationed in several stateside locations and eventually, Ford Island, Hawaii for a total of about 30 months.

He graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Industrial Management in 1949. While at Purdue, he met Violette (Vi) Swenson at the Wesley Foundation. They were married on February 1, 1948 He began his 19 year management career at Raybestos Manhatten in 1949 working in Crawfordsville, IN. In 1968, Norm became a stock broker and moved to Sarasota, FL. for about 6 years.

Norm moved back to Crawfordsville in 1974 to work in management at Sommer Metalcraft and then moved to Auburn AL in 1985 as plant manager of the new Sommer Metalcraft factory. He served on the Industrial Development Board there, bringing dozens of new companies and 100’s of new jobs to Auburn. He continued there until moving to Englewood, FL. in 2004. In 2013, he was awarded the Industrialist of the year by the Auburn Chamber of Commerce.

Norm had a deep love for all people and he could start a conversation and make a new friend just by walking into a room. He was an active member of the United Methodist Church and a Rotary. He had a love for sports. If anybody knew Norm for more than 30 minutes, they would also know his favorite spectator sport was Purdue football. His favorite outdoor sport was golf. He was always offering encouragement and bouying his family up to be inspired about life. He had a great gift of giving inspiration and motivation to his family and friends. And he could always lift your spirits with his adventure stories.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Hospice Tidewell Foundation (https://tidewellhospice.org/home/tidewellfoundation/donate-now/ ) or

Parkinson’s Foundation ( https://www.parkinson.org/ ).