Gail Pollock Norris

Gail Pollock Norris, 72, of Washington, North Carolina, was lifted up by angels and carried Home on the morning of September 2, 2025. She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her husband, children, siblings, and a niece. In the days before her passing, many members of her family came to be by her side and remind her how much she was loved and the difference she made in each of their lives.

Gail was born on September 3, 1952, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the eldest child of Paul and Anna Mae Pollock. After high school, she began a decades-long career as a registered nurse, providing care and support to those who needed it most, especially in her final position as a hospice nurse. Throughout her life, Gail lived in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida, touching lives along the way before eventually making Washington her permanent home and marrying the love of her life.

Gail loved to make people smile. She had an incredible, albeit sometimes inappropriate, sense of humor that kept everyone laughing. She was particularly fond and skilled at playing pranks: one Halloween, she pretended to be part of the porch decorations, sitting very still, dressed as a ghost, and then would slowly begin to move and speak to unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. But maybe more importantly, she brought joy to others through her giving spirit. She didn't just treat people the way she would want to be treated, but instead she treated people the way that they wanted to be treated. Not only did she do this for her family and friends, but anyone who crossed her path. Only by way of example, as there are many such stories, in the 1990s, she met a recluse with no family who lived in a camper in the woods without electricity or running water. Where others had shunned him, she instead took care of the man, checking in regularly to make sure his social, emotional, and medical needs were being met, eventually becoming his guardian.

At church, she organized and led the Jesse Tree – providing gifts to hundreds of foster children each year. She had so many talents and was always willing to share her time and go the extra mile to care for the least among us. Her life set an example of how to make others feel not only valued but cherished. We were incredibly blessed to have her in our lives.

She will be greatly missed by her husband, Jessie Norris; her six children, Stacey Gahagan, Emily Godrich, Courtney Vigil, Andrew Friedman, Ray Norris, and Chris Norris; her fourteen grandchildren, Gabe, Krista, Hannah Gail, Sarah Helen, Hannah, Abby, Claire, Jay, David, Emilia, Juliette, Arden, Aston, and Aria; her four great-grandchildren, Carson, Eliza, Iver, and Marlise; her sister Nadine Shores and brother Craig Pollock; and many other family members and friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Gail's honor can be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, the ASPCA, or the Human Rights Campaign. Alternatively, donating to your favorite teacher's DonorsChoose page, (her granddaughters Hannah Gail Shepherd, and Abby Norris are both special education teachers) or sponsoring a child through an Angel Tree this Christmas would certainly be appropriate memorials as well.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Details regarding this event will be posted at Online-Tribute.com/GailNorris and this site also provides an opportunity for those who loved her to share memories and stories of Gail's kindness, love, humor, and pranks. Her family would value hearing any and all stories about her life.