Norman Everett Armour, a resident of Casa Dorinda in Montecito, CA, formerly of Simsbury, CT passed away peacefully on October 2 after a brief illness.
Norm was born August 12, 1928, in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Norman Ulysses Armour and Caroline Elizabeth (Perkins) Armour. He was a graduate of Tilton Academy and Middlebury College. The first in his family to attend college, thanks to the G.I. Bill, Norm received an LLB law degree from University of Connecticut and was a member of the Connecticut Bar Association, serving on its Trust Committee. Norman served as a paratrooper in the US Army on the occupational force in Japan following World War II and upon returning attended Middlebury College. Here, during his first class as a freshman he sat beside “a beautiful young woman” named Joan Allen. They married four years later in June of 1953.
Norman and Joan settled in Simsbury, CT, where he began his career with The Travelers. In 1957, he joined Connecticut Bank & Trust (CBT) in Hartford and worked for that bank and its successors for more than three decades. Norman retired briefly in 1991 but resumed his financial career with Trust Company of Connecticut, which he and his partners founded in 1992. He worked there until the company was acquired in 2005.
Norm was active in the greater Hartford community with numerous charities and non-profits. A dedicated family man, he loved visiting and traveling with his family and spent weekends on his Simsbury property playing amateur landscaper and stone mason. A lifetime sports enthusiast, Norm was an avid baseball and hockey player and coach, and perpetual supporter of boys’ hockey and his favorite team, the Boston Red Sox, with whom he was granted a tryout at first base.
Norm and Joan left Simsbury in 2009 for Santa Barbara, CA, for the warmer climate and close proximity to several of their children. Norman maintained affection and support for Westminster School and Middlebury College throughout his life. He served on numerous boards and was voted Volunteer of the Year at the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara, where he tutored grade
school students.
Norman loved being at family gatherings alongside Joan, always soliciting the latest goings-on in the lives of his ten grandchildren. They loved getting his sage advice on every topic. He was fond of saying “family is the most important thing in life,” and he lived that mantra every day.
In his later years, he was happiest relaxing on the beach in Carpinteria with his family, a Wall Street Journal, New Yorker magazine and a good book.
Norman is survived by his loving wife of 69 years, Joan; his five children – Paul, John, Sarah, Tim and Becky; ten grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. The family plans to hold a private memorial service at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara.
