Norris, Kathleen Whitson

Kathleen Whitson Norris, 86, died Friday, October 9, 2015 at the Crossings in Blacksburg, Va. Kathleen, and her husband, Theodrick Bland Norris (d. 2013), moved to Warm Hearth in Blacksburg in 2011 from Spring Hill, Fla. where they enjoyed 22 years of retirement.

Kathy (Toots) was born in Sioux, N.C. She attended Unicoi County High School and East Tennessee State University, after which she worked for the Kefauver Insurance Agency in Erwin. She took a job with the Navy Department and moved to Washington, D.C., where she met and married her wonderful husband, Bland, in 1955.

Kathy worked as a secretary for the Navy Department before her daughters were born. She later returned to work as a secretary for George Mason University and then for AAA. She enjoyed her work and joined office bowling leagues and other social groups.Her many hobbies included bowling, golf, baking, sewing, crocheting and everything crafty. She was a deceptively wicked card and scrabble player. She enjoyed entertaining friends and colleagues and gave memorable dinner/dance parties in her much loved home in Annandale, Va. She loved her life as a wife, mother and homemaker.

Kathy was a grateful and proud survivor of breast cancer for which she received treatment at age 80. She loved nothing better than to help and love everyone she met. In her 86 years she gave enough hugs and kind words for two lifetimes. This was her gift to the world.

Kathy is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Patricia Morse of Christiansburg, Va., Mary Norris (Dan Britten) of Blacksburg, Va. and Priscilla Masters (Eric) of Great Falls, Va. Kathy was known as Granny to her grandsons Cameron Lewis (Katie), Cory Lewis (Elizabeth Elliott), Owen Masters, Nicholas Britten, George Masters, Peter Britten and Asa Britten.

Per her request there will be no service. A reception will be held from 11 to 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2015, at The Village Center at Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, VA, for friends wishing to stop by. The address is 2603 Warm Hearth Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060. Her remains will be interred at Monticello Memory Gardens in Charlottesville, VA next summer, where she will lie next to her beloved Bland.

In lieu of flowers please donate to your local hospice or to the American Cancer Society.

Her family would like to send a special thank you to the staff at the Crossings, and to her caregiver Elizabeth Holmes, of Christiansburg, Va., for their care and support.