Laura P. Norton

Laura Patton Norton passed away with her family by her side on February 6th, 2025. Born on April 12, 1961 and married to her loving husband Chris for 38 years, they were blessed with 3 children; Emily Patterson (Kevin), Tom Norton (Shahla) and Julia Norton. Beloved Lulu to Adam, Elena, and Oona- no greater gift.

Laura was predeceased by her mother, Virginia Patton and very recently, her father, Robert Patton (Marlene.) She is survived by her amazing and growing family: Thomas Patton (Debbie), Barbara Kiewiet de Jonge (Niels), Susan Altman (Dan), David Norton (Gil), Kathi Norton, and Amy Nash (John). Laura was a proud “cool” Aunt to 18 and great aunt to 15.

Laura spent her life in the service and care of others. She was fiercely devoted to her family and friends, deep in her faith and joyful in the way she lived. She was incredibly funny and made everyone she knew smile without trying. She loved to travel, try new things, cook with abandon and entertain friends and family. She also loved gardening, crafting and refinishing furniture. She was very creative and put a lot of thought into gift giving. She hated flying but loved zip-lining, cajoling Chris into it several times.

Laura was a graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College and worked as a social worker until she became a full time, stay-at-home Mom. Her first career as a social worker found her working with teenage girls in an emergency short-term shelter. She met her future husband through one of her clients and then actually agreed to a date. Within 3 months Chris and Laura were engaged and slightly over 10 months later they were married in 1986. Three children later, Laura began her professional life working for free and sat on numerous school related boards throughout her children’s school years. She was very active in her community and the schools, serving as PTA President, CCD teacher, a Girl Scout Leader and Coordinator of the Peters Township Food Bank. She also served for more than a decade as a charter member of the Peters Township Youth Commission.

Nearly four years ago, Laura and Chris made a leap of faith and moved to Grand Rapids, MI to be closer to their children. They became active in Trinity Lutheran Church and made many friends within a short time. Laura’s final career stint, which she described as her dream job, was as the Coordinator of Outreach and Discipleship at Trinity Lutheran, where she was able to combine her empathy, creativity, social work background and deep faith in support of the local community. During her short time in that role, Laura made a huge impact on the outreach of the church and many charitable organizations in the Grand Rapids community.

Laura would like to thank her family and friends for loving her so. You have made a difference in her life.

Visitation will be held at Metcalf and Jonkhoff Funeral Home at 4291 Cascade Road SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 on Sunday, February 16th from 3:00 - 5:00 pm. A celebration of life will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church at 2700 Fulton St. E - Grand Rapids, MI 49506 on February 17th, with visitation at 10:00 am and a memorial service at 11:00 am, with a reception to follow.

Memorial contributions may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church of Grand Rapids, or the Cholangiocarcinoma Research Foundation.

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