Norman D. Withrow

Norman D. Withrow (93) passed away peacefully Tuesday, March 23, 2021 with his wife of 72 years, Mary Ellen (Hinamon) Withrow, by his side at the Primrose Retirement Community.  The first born son and third child of Oliver R. Withrow and Iscah D. (Metz), Norman was born on January 20, 1928 in New Bloomington Ohio.
A graduate of New Bloomington High School in 1946; there were a total of eleven in his graduating class.  During his high school years it was all about the sports, Norm played Varsity Basketball for four years and made the All County Team the last two years.  He was also a member of the New Bloomington Baseball and Track teams.
He was a long standing member of the Elks, Moose Lodge, and the Brad McGinnis Legion Post of Marion.  He was a charter member of the Green Camp Lions Club and served in various leadership capacities.  He was a member of the Green Camp United Methodist Church since 1949.
As reported in the Marion Star in 1994, Norman liked to take some credit for planting the seeds of political interest in Mary Ellen.  He served as a Big Island Township Precinct Committeeman in the 1960’s.  Mary Ellen asked him about the nature of the meetings so he invited her to go with him and check it out.  It turned out that Mary Ellen enjoyed the political banter she witnessed at that first meeting…and the rest, as they say, is history.
Norm was a golf legend in Marion County, having won five county titles, six club championships and numerous other golf tournaments.  The most notable was the 1991 Ohio State Seniors Tournament held at the Mansfield Pebble Creek Golf Club, where he bested a field of 235 golfers.
Another of his extraordinary golf feats came after playing 39 years, when he got not one, but TWO holes in one.  He was playing by himself on a Wednesday in August 1988 at Kings Mills Golf Course in Waldo Ohio.  He hit his drive on the 16th hole and watched as his shot hooked toward the pin, bounce a few times and then drop into the cup.  He thought about asking the group on the 17th tee to witness the shot, but decided against it.  He teed up a second ball and hit a carbon copy of the first.  He ran up the hill to the 17th tee box and asked if they would verify that he had made both tee shots.  They agreed that there was no way he could have put both shots in the cup without them seeing him.  His third and final hole-in-one occurred June 22, 1993 at the Oglebay Speidel Golf Club, when he was playing in the 1993 Treasurer’s Association Open.
He had numerous hobbies including antique pocket watch collecting, in addition to collecting political pins and stamps.  Norm most loved being with his family and friends.
Affordable Cremation Services of Ohio has been entrusted with the arrangements.