1931 – 2014

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Cmd. Sgt. Maj. Normand R. Morin passed away unexpectedly at his home in Pensacola, Fla., on Wednesday, Sept. 3, in the loving company of his wife, Jeannine Morin. They were married on April 3, 1952, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and were blessed with 62 years of marriage.

Normand was born in Lewiston on Aug. 4, 1931. He was the son of Donat Joseph and Florence Cecelia Morin. He was proud of his French Canadian heritage; he spoke French before he spoke English. He was one of four children; he had a younger brother, Donald, and two younger sisters, Joanne and Jacqueline. His sister, Jackie Pelletier, who lives in Lewiston, survives him.

At the outbreak of the Korean War, he joined the U.S. Army. His youngest brother, Donald R. C. Morin, joined after him and was killed while on active duty in Korea on Feb. 3, 1952. Normand served for 30 years, retiring with the rank of command sergeant major on Feb. 28, 1979. He served his country proudly, including a tour of duty in Lebanon during the Suez Canal Conflict and in Ben Hoa, South Vietnam, from 1969 to 1970, including during the Tet Offensive.

While in the Army, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia College in Columbia, Mo. He was the first in his family with a college degree. His service decorations included the National Defense Service Medal with the First Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal with the First Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Lebanon), Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm First Oak Leaf Cluster and Vietnam Service and Campaign medals. His last duty posting was the U.S. Army Northeast Region Recruiting Command at Fort George G. Meade, Md.

While stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, during the Korean War, he met the love of his life, Jeannine Orriere. Jeannine was from Paris, France, and left France after the second World War. On April 3, 1952, they married. Their five children and their spouses survive him: Donald R. Morin and his wife, Lisa, of Charlottesville, Va., Michelle Faulkner and her husband, Martin, of Pensadena, Md., Suzanne Kirk and her husband, Erik, of New Freedom, Pa., Denise Long and her husband, Glenn, of Jeffersonville, Ind., and Jacqueline Stoltz and her husband, Kent, of Pensacola, Fla. There are many grandchildren: Peyton and William Morin, Marty and Matthew Faulkner, Jeannine Remines, Stephenie (Long) Davis, William Long, Sam Long and Kyle (Stoltz) Randolph; and great-grandchildren, too: Katie, Alice and Charlie Remines, Tyler and Grace Randolph and Taylor (Faulkner) Reed and Sophia Faulkner.

Normand was athletic. He played fast pitch softball in the Army and amazed his kids with feats of daring from the high board at the pool at Fort Jay on Governors Island, N.Y. He was an excellent bowler and threw left-handed. In his 40s, he found his passion: golf. He taught himself to play golf and at one point, was a 5 or 6 handicap. He continued to play regularly year-round after he and Jeannine moved South, first to Myrtle Beach and then Pensacola, until this past summer’s heat kept him away from the course. He was a regular member of Osceola Golf Club. He especially enjoyed golfing with his great buddy and best friend, Vincent “Vinny” Cadora.

While a boy, his favorite uncle, Henry, taught him about horses and the track, which his favorite aunt, Alice, tolerated. He continued to play the horses throughout his life and his children remember their time with him at Aqueduct and other tracks in the Northeast. His favorite thoroughbred was Kelso.

He was a talented painter, as well. He loved to sketch and paint while he lived in New York City. One summer, he painted the New York skyline on the wall of his parents’ small cottage on a pond outside Lewiston; it made the local paper.

We do not think there was anything he would not try or do. While in Hawaii, he took flying lessons and soloed over Oahu and around the Big Island. He even taught Arthur Murray dance lessons with Jeannine while they were in Hawaii. He was an extra, along with his whole unit, in the film, “From Here to Eternity.” But above all, he loved people — all kinds of people. He was willing to befriend anyone, anywhere.

Normand enjoyed life. One Christmas in the mid-1960s, he decorated his living room picture window with a Nativity scene and won a contest at Fort Jay. For the kids, he once dressed as a beatnik Santa Claus, with a beret and cigarette holder. He introduced his family to Chinese food and loved taking the family to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York after eating lunch in Chinatown. He loved oysters, lobster and scotch whiskey; no one could clean lobster better. He was a great husband, father and friend. We miss him and can only smile as we remember him. He will always be a part of our lives.