Christopher Norris

1939 - 2026

Christopher Norris

New London, NH - Christopher Chadwick Norris was born on March 18, 1939 and died on February 22, 2026. He grew up in Westwood, Massachusetts, the second of three sons of Guy Holden Norris and Lucy Sturgis Payne Codman. His youth was dominated by organizing neighborhood games of baseball and hockey, and what became an abiding passion for two areas of the country: Waterville Valley, NH, where he spent his early summers, and Sheridan County, WY, where starting in 1955 he spent 5 summers on guest and cattle ranches, doing his best to become a wrangler.

After graduating from the Choate School, where he met cherished lifelong friends, Chris attended Harvard University. At Harvard, he played varsity hockey on two championship teams, one of which was considered good enough to warrant an impromptu scrimmage against the Boston Bruins. They lost with a respectable 1 to 6 goals.

With the gentle persuasion of his local draft board, he joined Officer training school and then the Coast Guard, where he spent his last two years as the navigator of a small ship, the CGC Evergreen, dubbed the Evergone because it spent many months in the "perfect storm" section of the North Atlantic doing oceanographic research. Among other things, he learned that navigation with a sextant and maps requires an intimate knowledge of the ocean and that icebergs can be formidable.

On one of his shore leaves, he accepted a blind date with an intelligent and cute banker, who ultimately relinquished her MGB for his Dodge Dart, and 58 years of loving and steadfast companionship. Soon after they were engaged they spent the summers at the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, where he acquired many of the philosophies of education.

In 1966 he became a teacher, coach and dorm parent at Proctor Academy, and with few exceptions remained there until retirement in 2002. David Fowler, the new headmaster, and Chris, the assistant head of school, successfully steered the struggling school toward its Unitarian roots, emphasizing humanitarian values, with an infusion of Outward Bound methodologies he had experienced on Hurricane Island.

Our dad was a great father who was kind, curious, involved and supportive. He was also a storyteller. When he launched into a story inevitably he would start to laugh, first in his eyes, then in his voice, and, finally, he'd just shake with the delight of the telling.

In the 25 years of retirement he enjoyed staying on as a member of Proctor's board of Trustees, RV camping in Kathleen's hometown, Aiken, SC, and restoring stone walls with his son and grandson all around Andover and Salisbury NH, as well as working with likeminded neighbors on what has become the longest recreational rail trail in NH.

He leaves his wife Kathleen (Kit), brother Timothy, his beloved children Christopher (Toby) and Alisa Norris, Shanda and Andrew Holm, and Joshua and Susan Norris, and his magnificent grandchildren Benjamin Norris, Jamie Norris, Elliot Norris, Andrew Norris, Eleanor Holm, Claire Norris, Isaac Norris, and Georgia Holm. He also leaves Bronwen Shoard, who joined the family in 1981, and her children Ciaran, Ariana Shoard, and Ronan Shoard. We are also happy to hear that his spirit, and stories, live on in many of the students he coached over the years and the faculty, staff, friends, and trustees he worked alongside.

Please add your stories of Chris in the comments of Remembering Chris Norris | Proctor Educator and Administrator from 1966-2001 | buzz-details and join us at the Highland Lake Inn on Sunday June 28th at 11 am for a celebration of his life followed by a light lunch.