Elizabeth E. Norris

Elizabeth E. Norris, 79, a local historian and preservationist, died Friday, April 16, 2004.
A funeral service will be held today, Saturday, April 17, 2004 at 2:30 p.m. at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home Chapel, 300 Saint Mary's St., burial will follow in Historic Oakwood Cemetery.
Elizabeth was born in Raleigh at Norburn Terrace, the home place of her grandparents, District Attorney H.E. and Emma B. Norris. The entrance was formerly on the 1100 block of Old Wake Forest Road. The large brick Victorian house was restored by Gerald P. Traubs. She was educated in the Raleigh Public Schools, Peace College and local business schools. She also studied genealogy which helped her with her work in local history.
Elizabeth was a member of a number of organizations that included a charter membership in The Wake County Historical Society in which she served on the board of directors and as vice president. In the early 1970's, she co-chaired the research of a historical map of Wake County. She was a former member of the Raleigh Historic Properties Commission and helped establish the City Cemeteries Advisory Committee in which she served as co- chairman and advisor for City Cemetery's map directory and African American monument. She had plaques placed on all the entrances of the city's three cemeteries. She wrote the first known history of Mt. Hope Cemetery and was responsible for the city changing the name of the old Catholic/Pauper Cemetery to O'Rorke Cemetery for its benefactor. Other projects were historical plaques on Nash and Moore Squares. Over the years, she wrote numerous articles on Raleigh. A number were published by the Raleigh Reporter. In 1990, she researched and published, at her own expense, a map-brochure of Historic Oakwood Cemetery. For several years, she was a docent at Haywood Hall. Other work relating to local history were tours, slide programs, and working on three Raleigh pictorial histories. She also served as historical advisor in 1999-2000 for new markers in City Cemetery for two daughters of Col. Joel Lane, father of Wake County and Raleigh. Elizabeth's primary interests in life were her family and local history.
Elizabeth was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.
Surviving: sister, Flora C. Norris; two nephews, Leonard E. Wheeler, Jr. of Florida and Ray W. Catlette, Jr. of Raleigh.
She was preceded in death by three sisters and a niece.
The Rev. William D. Bennett, Assistant Rector at The Church of the Good Shepherd will officiate at the funeral service.
Memorials may be made to The Church of the Good Shepherd, PO Box 28024, Raleigh, NC 27611.
Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, St. Mary's Street, 828-4311.