Norman A. Burnett passed away on July 14th, 2023 in Richmond, Virginia. He was born on September 21st, 1922 in the village of Green River in Guilford, Vermont. He was the seventh of eleven children born to Wilbur Lovell Burnett of Savoy, Massachusetts and Lena Dell Kenney of Hawley, Massachusetts. The family later moved to a farm in Charlemont, Massachusetts. Having studied agriculture and paying his own tuition, he graduated from Arms Academy in Shelburne Falls in 1941. Soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1942, he volunteered for the Navy and was enlisted for nearly seven years serving as a flight engineer and worked the ranks from Apprentice Seaman to Chief Petty Officer. Without mechanical failure or incident, he safely accumulated over 2,000 flight hours providing convoy escort for submarines and held stations in locations such as Brazil, China and Japan. Norman worked on the Martin JRM Mars, one of the largest allied flying ships with a wingspan of 200 feet and a hull approximately 120 feet long. On August 15th, 1945, the last day of his training for the Japan invasion, America dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and his tour to Japan was canceled.Earlier that year while on leave in May, Norman met Phyllis Jane Unwin through his eldest sister Dee. He courted her through letters, and while on leave later again, they married on January 21st, 1947 in Grafton, Vermont. Jane joined him while he finished out his last tour of duty in Alameda, California. By November of 1947 Norman was honorably discharged, and they began their life together in Grafton, Vermont. They had three children, and sadly suffered the loss of their fourth child who was stillborn. After living with his family for the first few years of marriage, they bought a property of 127 acres in Charlemont, Massachusetts and together renovated their home originally built in the 1800s. They later lived in Portland, CT, Haddam, CT and Keystone Heights, FL. Norman worked his way up the ranks beginning as a machinist at Kendall Mills Textile Plant and retiring from the Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant as Operations Supervisor. He enjoyed a steady rotation of new cars, flying a plane he shared with his brother, spending time with his wife and grandchildren camping, holiday gatherings, reading the daily newspaper and National Geographic, and his 5 oclock scotch on the rocks. He was a man of few words and ever the diplomat. He had a sharp wit, good sense of humor and easygoing spirit. He didnt sweat the small stuff and as you were leaving hed remind you, "keep the faith." If he appreciated something you did for him, hed spritely say, "youre alright, kid" or "thanks, babe." Norman is survived by his sister, Helen Peterson, daughters and sons-in-law, Linda and Mark Epstein and Mary and John Burke, his granddaughters and their husbands Sandra Fazzino (Alessandro Ribola), Sara Bereika (Tim Bereika), Joelle Epstein (Matthew Nobbs), and Rachel Epstein (Jon Kaplan), and great grandchildren Alton Joseph (AJ), Alanna, and Sylvie. His son, John Burnett, his first wife, Phyllis Jane Burnett of 52 years, and his second wife of 9 years, Helen Jackson, as well as his siblings Lillian, Doris, Arnold, Phillip, William, Elsie, Julia, Arlene and Francis predeceased him. Funeral Home Jones - Gallagher Funeral Home - Starke 620 E. Nona Street Starke FL - 32091 US (904) 964-6200