Norman Sidney Spitzer

Norman Sidney Spitzer was the son of Sidney Spitzer and Hazel Durenberger Spitzer. The following is the excellent obituary his family provided, which has been edited by me to remove personal names of living family members to protect their privacy.

Norman Sidney Spitzer

Norman Sidney Spitzer, resident of Berkeley, born January 5, 1919, in Honolulu, Hawaii, deceased January 14, 2007, in Berkeley, California. A resident of Berkeley for 84 years, graduated from A-Zed High School in 1937. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, class of 1946, BA US History, after he had, as he put it, "an extended overseas break" while he served in the United States Air Corps during World War II.

While visiting his family in Honolulu during the summer of 1941, Norman enlisted in Army Air Corps Cadet training and received his pilot's license in Hawaii at the end of the summer of 1941 at the age of twenty-one. Although he returned to Berkeley for Fall Quarter, during Thanksgiving of 1941, he returned to Hawaii and took Basic Training at Schofield Barracks.

The morning of December 7, 1941, Norman heard explosions, recognized the attacking enemy aircraft, and immediately reported for duty at Schofield Barracks after the first strike. He remained in the pineapple fields in charge of a number of troops for several days awaiting an anticipated invasion. He was then based at Sand Island in Honolulu Harbor.

Norman became an Instrument Instructor for aviation cadets in Douglas, Arizona. In 1944, he requested overseas duty, joining the Army Air Corps Ferry Command, China, Burma, and India Theater. Norman completed 98 round trips/679 combat hours, on the "Rockpile Express," ferrying supplies and troops over the Himalayan Mountains ("The Hump"). As the Captain of a C46, he survived three forced landings. Norman was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, as well as the Asiatic Pacific Medal with Bronze Star. He also received an award from the Government of Taiwan for exceptional service rendered flying the Hump.

After World War II, Norman remained in the Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, Norman served at Hamilton Air Force Base, California, and Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho as a flight instructor for C119s, C47s, and B29s. He retired as a Major in the United States Air Force in 1961.

From 1946 to 1950, Norman was a co-pilot/navigator in China and the Pacific for Pan American Airways. While flying for Pan Am, he met his wife, a Pan Am purser on a blind date. They were married in Carmel in 1949.

With his WWII mustering out pay, Norman bought a beautiful lot in the Berkeley Hills and designed and built their dream home. Although [the home was] destroyed by fire in 1991, Norman and his wife were among the first to return to the devastated hillside and rebuild their home.

Norman's love of flying continued throughout his life. He logged over 11,000 flying hours in his lifetime and flew private planes at Buchanan Field in Concord. He built one of the first Burt Rutan designed home built aircraft, the "Varieze" in 1977. He and his wife traveled extensively, visiting over 50 countries and flew their homebuilt Glassair throughout the U.S. His love of flying took his family to every U.S. state, Mexico and Central America.

Norman enjoyed duck hunting at the "Spoony" and "Family" clubs in the Suisun Marsh. Norm and his wife also spent many summers exploring the inland Passage of Canada on their boat the "VariEze." Norman, an avid skier, built a cabin in Squaw Valley in 1955. He continued to ski and fly fish in the Truckee River and Lake Tahoe region through his later years.

Norman and his wife were also longtime Bear Backers, and cheered the football team every fall from their 50-yard line seats. Norman built his first radio at age nine and was a Ham Radio operator since 1935.

Norman was a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivor's Association, the Air Transport Command, The Hump Pilot's Association, The Experimental Aircraft Association, The Alumni Association of the University of California-Berkeley Life Member, the Ham Radio Operator Association, the AOPA, and Aviation Historical Society.

Norman's final words reminded his family that he had reached his 88th birthday, which in Ham language means "hugs and kisses." Norman is survived by his wife of 57 years, whose love of travel and adventure equaled Norman's. Her dedicated care of Norman during a prolonged illness exemplifies true love and is admired by all her family and friends. He is also survived by two daughters, three grandchildren, a son-in-law, and "Boomer," his Golden Bear of a dog. His was a life well and fully lived, surrounded by those who loved him dearly.

Published in East Bay Times on Feb. 8, 2007.


References:

Obituary found at www.legacy.com.