Norman R. Marcoux

Norman R. Marcoux, 89 passed away on April 28 in Seattle, WA after a long, hard-fought battle with Alzheimer's disease. Norman was born in Fall River, MA on November 4, 1923 to the late Mary Rose and Romeo Marcoux. Following his graduation from Durfee High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the Recruiting Station in Boston and spent two years as a Seaman. After completing Basic Training at the US Naval Training Station in Sampson, NY, he was transferred to Columbia University and then Dartmouth College for the Navy College Training Program which was created to supplement the force of commissioned officers. After six months in this program, he was sent to San Bruno, CA in preparation for duty outside the continental US as authorized restricted personnel. For eight months, he was stationed on Ulithi, a classified assignment since the lagoon served as the port for combat and supply ships that were used for the US Navys western Pacific operations. He arrived on Ulitihi on May 18, 1945, at a very active time in the island's history: two kamikaze attacks in the previous month sunk the USS Mississinea and severely damaged the USS Randolph, the Battle of Okinawa had begun, and ships anchored in the lagoon peaked at 722. Subsequent to this assignment, he was sent to Guam for four months before being honorably discharged in May 1946. Upon returning home and with the financial assistance provided by the GI Bill, he began his freshman year at Brown University in 1947. He graduated from Brown in 1951 with a degree in Mathematics and Physics and subsequently joined the faculty of Portsmouth Priory School (now Portsmouth Abbey) in Portsmouth, RI where he spent 40 years teaching math. While teaching, he completed a Master of Education degree at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts (1954) and a Master of Mathematics degree from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN (1962). His legendary and rewarding career at Portsmouth Abbey was characterized by extremely high standards, an unconventional sense of humor, and the ability to understand where students were struggling and lead them to comprehend a theorem, proof, or formula. He mentored new faculty and continually strove to perfect the art of teaching. He served on the committee to develop the math curriculum at Portsmouth High School, the local public school as it was being planned and constructed in the early 1960's. He was instrumental in advocating coeducation at Portsmouth Abbey and would methodically clip newspaper announcements from the public schools in the surrounding area demonstrating that the top ten students were usually female; an exercise undertaken with pride in the years in which his two daughters graduated. The Norman Marcoux Medal for Excellence in Plane Geometry was established at Portsmouth Abbey School in 1991 with a gift from his daughter, Elizabeth, to honor her father's work. The first recipient was Sarah Rainwater, the granddaughter of a Nobel Prize recipient. Following his retirement from Portsmouth, he and his wife, Olivia relocated to their hometown of Fall River, MA before health issues forced a move to Seattle. During his retirement, he remained active by walking daily, working on geometry problems and reading World War II histories as long as he was able. He is survived by Olivia Rocha Marcoux, his wife of 64 years, his daughter Catherine and her husband, Lloyd Dodwell of Ramsey, NJ and Elizabeth Marcoux and her husband, David Rudig of Seattle, WA. He is also survived by two granddaughters, Jennifer Dodwell of Storrs, CT and Emily Dodwell of Wallingford, CT. A Mass of Christian burial will take place at the Chuch of St. Gregory the Great, Portsmouth Abbey School, Cory's Lane, Portsmouth, RI on Friday, June 21, 2013 at 2 p.m. Burial will take place in the Portsmouth Abbey Cemetery. As a tribute to his love of reading and libraries, memorial donations to the Norman R. Marcoux Book Fund to benefit the St. Thomas More Library at Portsmouth Abbey School would be appreciated. Contributions can be sent to the attention of Patrick Burke, Portsmouth Abbey School, 285 Cory's Lane, Portsmouth, RI 02871. Service JUN 21. 02:00 PM Church of St. Gregory the Great Portsmouth Abbey 285 Corys Lane Portsmouth, RI, US