Mary Louise (Niederberger) Norton, our beloved Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother, peacefully passed from this world on April 8 at her home in Cohasset, MA.  Mary was born in Dorchester, MA on November 10, 1920 to Louis and Annie (Sullivan) Niederberger.   With her keen intellect she was the first of her family to attend college, graduating from Emmanuel College and then attending St. Louis University for a Masters in Social Work.  With boldness even for that time Mary then headed to Denver, CO where she worked for the Red Cross as a medical social worker assisting the returning veterans at Fitzsimmons Hospital.    In 1944 she married her neighborhood sweetheart and love of her life, John Norton, with whom she created an adoring, devoted and loving partnership that endured for 66 years until John's death in December 2010.   Mary and John began their married life in Denver but during the course of their long life together they moved to seven different states as John advanced in his career.   These cross country moves included their family which grew to 8 children and were successful because of Mary's exceptional organizational skills, eternal optimism, good humor and unlimited affection that made any challenge into an adventure to be savored.

Mary was a good, kind, loving, exceptional woman who lived life with compassion, great integrity, unmatched wit, old-fashioned values and strong faith.  She always, always thought of others before herself, welcomed all into her home, and took seriously the mandate of her Catholic faith to make the world a better place.  She loved birdwatching, good books, fast bridge games, pretty shoes, gardenias, interesting food, baseball, tending to her plants and trees and most of all her husband, children, grandchildren and friends all of whom adored her. She leaves behind her 8 children John, Jr., Ann and husband Jonathan Storer, Robert and wife Ginger, Margaret and husband Tom Nixon, Frederick  and wife Marena, James and wife Sue, Catherine Nichols  and husband Rob and Thomas and wife Dana along with 19 grandchildren,  and her granddaughter, the late Elizabeth, and 2 great grandchildren, all of whom are heartbroken and consumed with unbearable sadness at her passing.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 11 am in St. Anthony Church, Cohasset. Visiting hours immediately prior to the funeral Mass on Saturday from 9-11 am in McNamara-Sparrell Funeral Home, 1 Summer St. (directly across from St. Anthony Church), Cohasset. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations to honor Mary be sent to the National Down Syndrome Society, www.ndss.org.

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