The Heavenly Father made her blessed her whole life, and now she enjoys God forever. N N Guzman November 17, 2018 Offering my sincere condolences for the family. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. She strained to hear through the doors as the House voted unanimously, 117-0, to apologize to the families of the Groveland Boys. Norma was nurtured by Gods Word and Sacrament all the days of her life and is now with the Lord Jesus forever; John 14:1-3. Heaven claimed one of its angels on earth with the passing of Norma Faye (Hauschild) Padgett on October 12, 2020, when she succumbed to congestive heart failure in Dallas, Texas. Please try again later. At a clemency hearing in 2019, when the men were posthumously pardoned by Florida Gov. There is a new angel in heaven and her name is Norma. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. Interment will conclude at Hillcrest Gardens Cemetery in Mount Holly. Telephone: 724-499-5181. We do not own or modify obituary in any way. There was an error deleting this problem. Its gone now. She is preceded in death by her parents Melville and Mary "Beatrice" Thornton, sisters Marion (Thornton) Ives and Beatrice "Betty" (Adford) McDaniel and brother Reverend Melville Thornton. Weve updated the security on the site. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Historians and authors have theorized that Padgett and her husband, whom she divorced in 1958 and died some years later, came up with the story of the rape to explain away a volatile relationship. Norma Padgett and her husband Willie after questioning by the states attorney, in a 1949 newspaper clipping. Yet despite the FBIs forensic evidence of murder and attempted murder, a Lake County judge refused to impanel a grand jury, and a U.S. Attorney in Tampa was unmoved to investigate the sheriff. I am the victim, she told the clemency board. Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. Shepherd built a modest six-room house and maintained a small farm with help from three sons and three daughters, while his wife Ida Mae had the best preserve cellar in the area. Henrys white neighbors tried to run Shepherd off his land. And just as Marshall expected, Walter Irvin was once again convicted by 12 white jurors and sentenced to death. As word of the allegations got out, the Ku Klux Klan descended on Groveland, shooting at the houses of black people or burning them down. Born to Alpha and Loretta Padgett on June 2, 1931, in Miami, Oklahoma, Norma grew up with a sister, Jean, and two brothers, Richard and Don. James Shepherd eventually did work his way back from Orlando to Lake County, but he knew he could never again live in Groveland. All have preceded her in joining God. based on information from your browser. They were handcuffed together when, according to McCall, he stopped the car to check a tire and they tried to escape, so he shot them. This is a glory hallelujah day, said Shepherds cousin, Beverly Robinson, at a news conference afterward. The Padgett family owned land that abutted the Shepherd farm, and when Norma Lee Tyson married Willie Padgett, the young couple moved into a small house on the Padgett property. She grew up in Gillespie, Illinois and after high school graduation pursued her passion for helping others by earning her Bachelors of Nursing degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. I think someday there will be.. The resolution also calls on Gov. The population of Groveland has grown from 1,000 to 14,000 since 1950, and today the city is 47% white, 25% Latino and 23% black. The men ranged in age from 16 to 26 in 1949 when they were accused of raping Norma Lee Padgett. There is no photo or video of Norma Lee.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. NORMA ROSE PADGETT, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Norma Lee to pay them a last tribute. He rejoined The Times in 2009 and left his post as deputy sports editor late in 2017. Learn more about managing a memorial . She is looking forward to seeing all of us in Heaven. The new evidence was unearthed in a battered brown box, marked exhibits 6-9-52 Walter Lee Irvin - vs - State.. Norma had a capacity to love that defies description. Search Engine specialized in the United States Obituaries. Norma added that she didnt much care for that nigger lawyer defending the Groveland Boys. Shepherd died at the scene of a gunshot wound to the head. She later claimed she had also been raped. Beloved. You could put markers where some of the incidents took place. Well never put our work behind a paywall, and well never put a limit on the number of articles you can read. As Alene Shepherd described to her daughters the meeting between James and Norma, neither Vivian nor Erma doubted their parents for even a second. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Obituary Announcement . "If the state wants to apologize for their treatment during and after their apprehension[,] fine," one family member wrote. The rest of her family, Vivian pleaded, was inside, sitting with the Irvins and Greenlees, the other families from the Groveland case who had also come to witness Floridas historic apology. Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. Born to Alpha and Loretta Padgett on June 2, 1931, in Miami, Oklahoma, Norma grew up with a sister, Jean, and two brothers, Richard and Don. Norma dropped the Padgett name, the couple divorced in 1958, and she remarried to another Lake County man a few years later. Curators added a new feature to the exhibit Monday: A note that reads: EXONERATED! Three of the men-Samuel Shepherd, Walter Irvin and Charles Greenlee-were quickly apprehended. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? She was nanny for four of her grandchildren, providing full-time loving care and support after her retirement from nursing. Published by Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jul. The. Vivian Shepherd was living in Gainesville in 1998 when she received a Monday night telephone call from her mother. cemeteries found in Davenport, Polk County, Florida, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. We will know she is watching over us whenever we see her cherished cardinals in the yard. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. LeRoy Collins: if Walter Irvin pleaded guilty to rape, the state would agree to spare his life. She asked her father about him, but he never wanted to talk. Indiana, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1907-1944. Review. She retired from the Lawton Indian Hospital in 2005, ending her 50-year career in nursing as the Supervisor of Nurses. The significance of this finding cannot be overstated, Gladson said. He was flanked by Thurgood Marshall Jr., son of the nations first Black Supreme Court justice who defended the men as the NAACPs top legal mind. Rick Scott to put the issue on the clemency board docket. She picked up some yogurt in the cafeteria, quickly ate it, and then rushed back up to the fourth floor, where guards told her that the legislative session had already commenced. Norma was a lifetime member of the Assembly of God Church and was best known for her amazing work in spreading Gods love through the community, including her ministry to the women in the Weber County Jail. All of that changed on a summer night in 1949, when one of those neighborsa 17-year-old white girltold Lake County deputies and Sheriff McCall that shed been raped by four black men. She had eight children, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. But, if the need ever arose, she would have led the firemen into the burning building. My father did not carry prejudice, Erma said. That lady came to the house yesterday, she told Vivian. But Normas biggest contribution to the world was as a mother and grandmother. In 1972, he was serving his seventh term as sheriff when he was indicted for the murder of a mentally disabled black prisoner while in custody. Contact was eventually made with a close relative who emphatically made it clear that the family would have no comment. Tallahassee was a good three and a half hours away, but the long drive north would be worth it. Norma started life as it ended - sincerely loved by all around her. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Until then, Gladson said he was prepared to draft a remorseful and sympathetic letter to the families closing the case. Lee James Padgett, age 66, of Athens, Georgia, formerly of West Columbia, SC, passed away on Sunday, May 8, 2022. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Norma . The Florida Legislature called for the exoneration of the Groveland Four in 2017, asking then-Gov. Resend Activation Email. Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. Try again. Please enter your email and password to sign in. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Gov. Norma was the family matriarch, adored by all and feared when we foolishly stepped out of line. The doors could not be opened. In the summer of that year, Alene Shepherd called her daughter, Vivian, to tell her the story of the white woman who showed up at the Shepherd home in Clermont. there for. You can try and keep dirt on top of it and keep it hidden from the public, but youll eventually start to smell it.. Then hed made up his mind. Alene gave them privacy, and the two former Groveland neighbors sat on the interior porch for about five minutes," she recounted to her daughter. We are confident she would love seeing a smile on your face as you read her obituary. The fourth suspect, Charles Greenlee, 16, was beaten until he confessed and was sentenced to life in prison even though he had been in custody for a gun violation at the time of the alleged attack. She will be buried in Alma, KS with a memorial service on November 7, 2020 at 11:00 am at St. John Lutheran Church at 218 W 2nd St in Alma. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Philip Lee Padgett to . Despite the publicity, the Groveland Historical Society, a cramped building of clippings, mementos and sports trophies, has no mention of the Groveland Four in any of its displays. She attended Davis County schools and graduated from Davis High School in 1949. To use this feature, use a newer browser. Try again later. From the time she was a girl, Vivian Shepherd was haunted by the World War II photograph of her uncle Samuel, stern-faced with his Army cap slightly cocked. The couple separated after just six months; Norma moved back home with her parents who also lived down the road from the Shepherds. Review. She worked at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis upon graduation where she met her husband, Reverend Stanley Delton Padgett, who was attending Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Norma Hunter Lee, 86, passed away peacefully, on Monday, January 31, 2022, surrounded by her family. She made good time, and after finding a parking space near the Florida Capitol Complex in Tallahassee, she rushed toward the House Office Building. Philip Lee Padgett Obituary. They knocked down his fences and allowed their cattle to graze on his land, destroying Shepherds crops just before harvest. Heaven claimed one of its angels on earth with the passing of Norma Faye (Hauschild) Padgett on October 12, 2020, when she succumbed to congestive heart failure in Dallas, Texas. On Friday, in one of the first acts of newly elected Florida Gov. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by two siblings, William Boyd Padgett and Norma Lee Padgett. Groveland did not want anyone to know about it, said Vivian Shepherd, now 57. It was not the first apology that Vivian Shepherd had missed. He was shot to death by Sheriff Willis McCall in Lake County, Fla., in 1951. Shepherd was tortured into making a confession and tried with Irvin. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. July 26, 1935 - James Shepherd attended the retrial and was standing with Walters mother when Thurgood Marshall informed them of a deal proposed by a representative of Gov. 0 cemeteries found in Davenport, Polk County, Florida, USA. Oops, something didn't work. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? Make sure that the file is a photo. Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. He said both his uncle and Samuel Shepherd were dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army because of the false rape accusation, and the families hope to see that corrected, too. Samuel Shepherd while he was in the U.S. Army Air Corps, circa 1948. Add to your scrapbook. She spent the last 33 years of her career in Oklahoma, settling in Apache and working in Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Cyril Nursing Home, and the Lawton Indian Hospital. Arrangements entrusted to Aarons Mortuary of Ogden. To pay tribute sympathy Store, surrounded by her family feature, a... Wanted to talk in a 1949 newspaper clipping: EXONERATED to the House yesterday she... A clemency hearing in 2019, when the men ranged in age from 16 to in! Orlando to Lake County, Fla., in a 1949 newspaper clipping board docket put our work behind paywall! Essential to sustaining this work apologize to the House voted unanimously, 117-0, to apologize the. 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