Norman "Norm" Zehr

Age, 88, passed away peacefully on September 15, 2018 in Littleton, Colorado. Norm is survived by his loving family; his wife of 42 years, Jan Zehr; daughters, Jeannette (Philip Scibilia) Zehr and Leslie Zehr; grandchildren, Austin Zehr-Scibilia, Lina Shaarawi, and Abdallah Shaarawi; great grandchildren, Acia Farouk and Mourad Farouk; and also a brother, Dick Zehr. He is preceded in death by his parents, George and Ina Zehr, and brother, Stan Zehr.

Norman R. Zehr, was born on May 19, 1930 in Niagara Falls, New York. Norman graduated from Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado with a degree of Engineer of Mines in 1952. While at Mines, Norman was a member of both Scabbard & Blade, and Pershing Rifles; college honor societies aimed at military ROTC candidates. He was also a member of the Colorado National Guard at the time. Upon graduation, Norman was titled as a distinguished military graduate and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Corps of Engineers. After being appointed, Mr. Zehr attended officer training at Ft. Belvoir in Fairfax, Virginia. He also attended Army aviation school at Gary Air Force Base in San Marcos, TX and Ft. Sill in Oklahoma, where he was rated an Army Aviator in July of 1954. While an Army aviator, Norman was with the 40th Infantry Division in Korea during the Fall of 1953 to the Spring of 1954, before moving to the Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG), where he served until the Summer of 1954. During his time of military service, Norman Zehr was awarded numerous medals; some of which include: Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, a Korean Service Medal, and a United Nations Service Medal. After leaving the military, Norman got his commercial pilots license and went back to the Colorado School of Mines to attain his Masters of Science degree in Mining Engineering in 1956.

Norman spent his working years at the Ingersoll-Rand Company, where he wore many hats in his almost 30 years of dedicated work. He began in 1955 as a Sales Engineer in Lima, Peru where he stayed for ten years. He was then promoted to the corporate offices in New York and New Jersey, where he held various sales and management positions. Some of these positions included President of Ingersoll-Rand International and Corporate Vice President of Ingersoll-Rand Company, before leaving in 1983. While working for Ingersoll-Rand, Norman was also involved with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Program for Senior Executives in 1973. Then, in 1984, Norman returned to the Colorado School of Mines as the Executive Director of the CSM Alumni Association, from which he retired in 1995.

In addition to his impressive military and career accomplishments, Norman also has quite the extensive list of accolades to his credit. These accolades are: being awarded the Colorado School of Mines Distinguished Achievement Medal in 1977, named an Honorary Colonel of the 115th Engineer Regiment in 1987, an Honorary Member of the Blue Key Service Fraternity in 1988, and a member of Legion of Honor: Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration in 2001. Mr. Zehr also aided in the editing of two books; the Encyclopedia for the Korean War (2000), and the Colorado School of Mines history project book titled, Rocky Mountains to the World (2004).

Mr. Zehr led an impressive and intellectually stunning life. He will be remembered and loved by those he impacted most.

Memorial contributions may be made in Norm's name to the Colorado School of Mines Foundation, P.O. Box 4005, Golden, Colorado 80402-4005, or to the Morningstar Assisted Living of Littleton--Employee Fund, 5344 S. Kipling Pkwy, Littleton, Colorado 80127.