Donald Norrod

1931 - 2025

James Donald Norrod, 94, of Monroe, passed away on December 25, 2025. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, December 31, at 1:00 pm. in the chapel of Hall Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Grant Norrod Cemetery in Monroe. Visitation will be Tuesday, December 30, from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm.

He was born on May 25, 1931, as the fifth of nine sons and two daughters to Thomas Herman Norrod and Clancy Edith Sells Norrod. Donald completed eight years of education at the two-room Monroe School. As with many farm families at that time, extra hands were always needed on the farm so Donald ended his formal education and worked on the family farm until he enlisted in the navy at age 21. The farm on which he grew up was purchased by his great grandfather and is still a Norrod family farm.

He was a simple hard-working man who loved his family, his community, and his country. He had a strong sense of right and wrong. A man of strong integrity and strict values, he believed in treating others fairly and with respect. He was always willing to help his neighbors and other farmers. Late in life, he began attending church with his wife, accepted the Lord and was baptized. He was a member of the Free Communion Church of Christ.

While serving his country during the Korean Conflict, he was assigned to the USS Leyte, the USS Curtis, and the USS Kitty Hawk. He talked a lot about his time in the service, what it was like being on the open seas, his time stationed in Hawaii, going through the locks on the Panama Canal, and about the time his ship exploded and 37 of his crew members lost their lives. Another experience he talked about was his participation in Operation Ivy, code name Mike, which was the testing of the first hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands. For a young man fresh off the farm, his experiences in the navy opened up a world he could only have imagined. 

Upon his discharge from the navy, he and his wife Jean and his first two children lived in Joliet, IL, where he worked for Caterpillar Corporation for several years, and then they returned to Tennessee in 1959, and he began farming. He continued farming as long as he was able and he accomplished something many don't get to, which is being successful at a job he had so much passion for. Donald was happiest when working in the fields, planting and harvesting row crops and cutting and baling hay, and taking care of livestock. There were many young calves over the years he had to bottle feed. He was an active member of the Overton County Cattlemen's Association. He served on the Board of Directors for more than 10 years and received their Annual Service Award twice.

Donald is survived by his daughter, Sheila White, sons David Norrod, Bryan Norrod, and Rick (Gail) Norrod; two granddaughters, Shauna Norrod and Emily (Jeremy) McLearan; three great-grandsons, Wade Hargis and Myles and Madux McLearan; one brother, Gerald Norrod and one sister, Betty Ledbetter.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 70 years, Jean Jollley Norrod, his brothers Homer, Bethel, Glen, Thomas, Roy, Paul and Landon, and a sister, Helen Reeser.

Pallbearers will be Barry Johnson, Caleb Johnson, Wade Hargis, Heath Thompson, Cory Norrod, Joe Norrod and Ronnie T. Smith. Honorary pallbearers will be Danny Norrod, James Norrod, Jeremy McLearon, and John Waddey.

 

P