1933 – 2015

LEWISTON — Norman L. Cummings, 82, of Auburn, died on Sunday, Dec. 6, in Lewiston.

He was born Aug. 22, 1933, in Lewiston to William H. Cummings and Glenola Jane Wright Cummings.

He married Eleanor O’Connor on Oct. 19, 1957, at Court Street Baptist Church.

Norman was a graduate of Edward Little High School in 1952, Vermont Academy in 1953, Middlebury College in 1957, with a Bachelor of Arts in business economics.

Norman had a 30-year career as vice president and general sales manager of Auburn Motor Sales, later known as Fordland, where he was partner with his brother, William. Together they built their father’s Ford dealership into a flourishing Ford, Lincoln-Mercury dealership. He was on the board of the Lewiston-Auburn Children’s Foundation, where he served as president for many years. He also served on various civic committees, and was a member of the High Street Congregational Church. For 20 years Norman was a volunteer on the Auburn Fire Department and a reserve officer on the Auburn Police Department. In 1981, he was instrumental in the development of the Auburn Fire Department water rescue.

Norman was very proud of his sports career that began on the varsity ski team at ELHS, where he won the 1952 Southeastern Ski Jumping Championship and in 1953, the U.S. Eastern Prep School championship in both downhill and jumping. At Middlebury College, he specialized in ski-jumping for four years, winning the 1957 U.S. Eastern Intercollegiate ski-jumping championship. That same year, he was selected for the National Ski Association’s All American Team. In 1956, he participated in the U.S. Olympic ski-jumping tryout squad in Iron Mountain, Mich., which resulted in live television appearances on the Arthur Godfrey show at Lake Placid, N.Y., night jumping on the John Cameron Swazie News in Iron Mountain, Mich., and in 1957 live on stage with the top 10 U.S. ski jumpers on the Ed Sullivan Show. Between 1952 and 1962, he won the Maine Ski Jumping Championship five times. In 1960, he again participated in an Olympic ski-jumping tryout squad at Ishpeming, Mich. In 1996, he was inducted into the Auburn-Lewiston Sports Hall of Fame and in 2006 he was inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. His ski-jumping enthusiasm continued into the 1970s as a volunteer coach with the ELHS jumping team. He was still jumping himself at Pettingill Park well into his 40s.

Norman loved the outdoors, walking, running or cross country skiing in the woods near his home, in addition to downhill skiing, boating and water skiing. As an avid and accomplished water skier and speed-boating enthusiast, he enjoyed spending countless hours on the water teaching, with unparalleled patience, friends and family to water ski at Thompson Lake. He was a loving and devoted family man and those qualities extended beyond his wife and daughters to his large extended family and circle of friends, including the many dogs in his life.

Norman is survived by his family, wife, Eleanor; daughter, Lynn Cummings and fiancé, Forest Weston, of Lewiston; daughter, Allison Cummings Melangton and husband, Thomas Melangton, of Carmel, Ind.; grandson, Cameron Melangton of Carmel, Ind.; sister, Cynthia Cummings Williams of Corvallis, Ore.; brother, William Cummings and wife, Lorraine, of Auburn; brother, John Cummings and wife, Joan, of Grand Prairie, Texas; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

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