JARVIS NORMAN (NORM) MESSER

CDR Jarvis Norman (Norm) Messer (USN Ret) of Key West, Fla. joined that great cloud of witnesses described in Hebrews 12 on June 25, 2012. He was born on Feb. 8, 1929 in Chicago, Ill. to Naomi and Jarvis Messer of Polo, who preceded him in death. Norm graduated from Polo High School in 1947, the University of Denver in 1951 with a BS in Chemistry, and the US Navy Officer Candidate School in 1952. He proudly served in the Navy until his retirement in 1979. This service included sea and shore duty assignments culminating in tours as commanding officer of the Navy Chemical Unit at Fort McClellan, Ala., executive officer of the USS Corry, USS Cascade and the Naval Base at Key West, Fla., and communications officer of the Ninth Naval District at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois. After retiring from the Navy, he managed hospital engineering plants in Rockford and Waukegan, Ill.

Norm relished sailing, read widely and thoroughly enjoyed family gatherings in Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, and Tennessee. He committed his life to Christ in 1988 at the First Baptist Church of Polo, and this relationship sustained him through the rest of his life.

He is survived by his wife Barbara of Key West, sister Bernadyne Snook (William) of Beaver Dam, Wis., brother Ronald Messer (Patricia) of North Marshfield, Mass., sons Stephen Messer (Betty) of Fort Wayne, Ind. and Nathaniel Messer (Rene) of Lake Villa, Ill., daughters Laura Messer (Joe Lupien) of Alexandria, N.H., Aimee Arreguin (Joe) of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., Molly Messer of Miami, Saundra Fitzpatrick (Mark) of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., Dawn Dykes of Ocala, Fla., grandson Richard Cormack of Key West and 11 other grandchildren.