Obituary: Marie Norton Highland

Marie Norton Highland

Marie Norton Highland

Marie Norton Highland, 90, died Saturday, March 24, 2018, at the Marley House inpatient hospice surrounded by those who loved her. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 21, 1927, to Evelyn Bellows Norton and Victor Malmgren Norton, an immigrant from Sweden in 1905.

Marie was predeceased by her parents and two children, Wendy Highland Berndt (Paul) and Jeffrey Arthur Highland. She is survived by a niece and two nephews out of state.

Marie received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1948, specializing in Community Health Nursing. After a variety of nursing positions, she and her two children moved to Phoenix in 1958.

Here, in Arizona, she worked as a community health nurse at the Maricopa County Health Department, Director of the Phoenix Planned Parenthood Clinic, CHN on the Gila River Reservation, Yavapai County Health Department, Prescott VA Hospital, White Mountain Apache Reservation and retired from the Arizona State Hospital, where she initiated their infection control program in the early days of the HIV epidemic. Following retirement to Prescott in 1991, Marie, an active Unitarian, participated in several community organizations and freely served others in need. Marie also enjoyed reading, hiking, travel, and spending time in nature and with friends. Marie will long be remembered, in the minds and hearts of her many wonderful friends, for her sense of humor, ceaseless energy, generosity, and caring attitude. A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, May 5, at 2 p.m., at the Prescott Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 945 Rancho Vista Drive, Prescott, Arizona.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in memory of Marie to a charity of your choice. Please visit and sign Marie’s guest-book at: www.ruffnerwakelin.com. Funeral arrangements entrusted to Ruffner-Wakelin Funeral Homes

Information provided by survivors.


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