Leila Mae (Hendricks) Norton

Leila Hendricks Norton, 98, of Metter, passed away Tuesday, June 27,2017 at Ogeechee Area Hospice in Statesboro.

Leila was born on May 6, 1919 in Pulaski Georgia.  She was the daughter of Rufus Lester Hendricks, Sr. and Adel Buie Hendricks. She was a 1937 graduate of Commercial High School in Savannah.  She was a 1952 Charter Member of the Isle of Hope Baptist Church.  Mrs. Norton dearly loved Isle of Hope, her home for more than seventy years.  She treasured her many friends and neighbors and especially her church family.  In 2009, she moved to Metter and attended the Metter First Baptist Church. Leila was a volunteer, later becoming an employee of Memorial Medical Center for fifty plus years. In 1984, Memorial honored Leila as one of the recipients of the Doctor Frist Humanitarian Award.  After retiring, she volunteered at Family Practice until the age of ninety.  Mrs. Norton loved helping others, working in her flowers, crocheting, dancing the jitterbug, and most of all nature.  She was famous for her chicken and dumplings and her homemade fudge.  Her greatest love was her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  She will be greatly missed by her family and all the lives she touched over the years.

She was preceded in death by her husband of fifty years, Howard L. Norton, her brother R.L. Hendricks, Jr. and sister, Ulma Hendricks Matson.

Survivng are her children, Thomas R. Norton and wife Michelle, of Metter, and daughter Barbara N. Williams and husband Bill of Burns, TN; grandchildren and spouses, Kelly Hardin of Canton, Kimberly and Chris Anderson of Stuttgart, Germany, Jaime and Steve Cacchio of St. Augustine, FL, Thomas Norton of Metter and Kate Norton of Metter; six great-grandchildren, Emeline and Gray Anderson, Lane and Lynlee Hardin and Layton and Christian Cacchio; numerous nieces, cousins and other family members.

Funeral services will be held Friday, June 30, 2017 at 11:00 am at Kennedy Funeral Homes, Hooks Chapel with Rev. Bill Miller and Rev. Tom Osborne officiating. Burial will be in the Lake Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday evening 5-7:00 at the funeral home.  Memorial donations may be made to the Isle of Hope Baptist Church, 22 Rose Ave., Savannah, GA 31406, or Ogeechee Area Hospice, PO Box 531, Statesboro, GA 30459. Guestbook: www.kennedyfuneralhomechapels.com

Kennedy Funeral Homes, Hooks Chapel is in charge of these arrangements.