Gregory Bruce Norton

Gregg was a man’s man. Born to a Michigan state trooper and raised in—and by—the Wolverine State, he answered the call to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force as soon as he could after graduating from Gaylord High School. During his service, adventures in Germany and throughout Europe, in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East, supplied him with stories to last a lifetime, which he always took pride in recounting serving his country.

After returning home and graduating college, Gregg found success in yet another new land—the sunny shores of South Florida—where he met his beautiful wife Brenda, thrived as an investment banker, and stood as tall in his community as the Sugar Maple trees in the forests of the home state he left (but never forgot). In many ways, Gregg discovered the cheat code to life, having started his (post-military) career at 28 and effectively retiring by around 40. Hard work was always important to Gregg. But the career success that hard work leads to—the trophies of which Gregg could (and did) fill shelves with—never defined him.

Instead, Gregg’s proudest accomplishment was his family. He is survived not only by Brenda—who stood by his side as his constant companion for 40 years—but also his two children, Connor and Calli. Gregg refused to miss a single one of his children’s baseball and softball games, but he did not stop there: he was actively involved in coaching his children’s teams, contributing not only to his own son and daughter’s development but to an entire generation of young men and women in South Florida. He was so proud of his children, it was his main topic of conversation with friends and strangers at any local bar.

Second only to his family, Gregg found his joy in life on the golf course, in the deer blind, and on the fishing boat. If he wasn’t in one of those places, it was because it was football season and he was watching his Michigan Wolverines. He loved cracking jokes, answering any call to give advice on stock trades or life, and making new friends anywhere they served Coors Light.

In the recent years before he passed, Gregg beamed as he sat front row at the weddings of Connor, who married Emma Boren, and Calli, who married Brent Cooper. He spent his winters in St. Augustine, Florida, and his summers back in Gaylord, Michigan, where he passed last Saturday from one heaven, the shores of Lake Otsego, to another—far too soon.

Gregg is also survived by too many friends who were like family to count. He will be dearly missed.