9/18/2008
By Chris Tompkins
Northshore member
Dee Norton was a long time member of the Northshore chapter
of Trout Unlimited. He served for
4 years as vice president and also was the conservation chairman for several
years. Dee was also an active member
of the state council as conservation chairman. Dee was an active conservationist; he believed that the fish
must come first and strived to do what he could to protect salmon and
steelhead. Dee and I toured Barr
creek one morning after some recent flooding and decided together that the
creek needed some serious help.
With his help we put together a plan to restore the creek. I can remember the two of us wading around
in high water trying to figure out where logs should go and how we could make
the creek a better place for the fish.
It was fun to work with Dee, he always had a lot of enthusiasm for the
projects and he was willing to go the extra mile to help out. Even after his health began to fail Dee
would do what he could to help out.
His wife Jackie, and Dee, provided the meals of hot chili and goodies for
our Barr creek work parties; they were a driving force to get our jobs
done. Dee used to fish a lot in
his early days of TU, but later I think he found more enjoyment in
participating in the Kids fishing clinics and the projects at Barr creek. He loved the kid’s clinics; I think
those events were the highlight of his TU experiences. Dee also helped the
chapter toss salmon carcasses on the Skykomish tributaries on several
occasions, a smelly job indeed. Dee helped to organize and get letters out
about our fund raising banquets; his participation in the chapter was never
ending. Dee also initiated a partnership with the Lake Forest Park stewardship
foundations, he helped them to work on plans to restore Brookside creek. Dee was often very vocal in his ideas,
he never hesitated to do a little arguing about issues that mattered to him, and
he stood up for what he believed in.
I respected his views; we often had the same vision about conservation
of our fisheries. In Dee’s last few years he began to
suffer from diabetes and Alzheimer’s and had trouble making the meetings on his
own, but he wanted to come anyway, so TU member Larry Holley would pick him up
at his home to bring him to the meetings, and I would take him back. Dee will not be forgotten in the
Northshore chapter, we will miss his contributions and his spirit. I wish we had more members that would
be as involved and motivated as Dee Norton was.
Chris Tompkins
Dee at the 2008 Kids fishing
clinic on Lake Washington
Dee working at Barr creek 03
Dee at Barr creek 04
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