H. Wayne Norman Jr.
Harford Republican state senator, former delegate praised by members of both parties
Funeral services are scheduled for Friday for state Sen. H. Wayne Norman Jr., a Republican from Harford County who died Sunday at age 62. His son, H. Wayne “Chip” Norman of Bel Air, said the senator died in his sleep. No cause of death had been determined as of Monday afternoon.
Visitation will be noon to 8 p.m. Thursday at Mountain Christian Church’s New Life Center, 1802 Mountain Road, Joppa, where a service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday.
Senator Norman, 62, a Bel Air attorney, represented a legislative district that covers northern and central Harford County and western and northern Cecil County. He served in the House of Delegates from 2008 to 2015. He was elected to the Senate in 2014 and had filed to seek reelection this year.
Sen. J.B. Jennings, a colleague in the Senate and also a Harford County Republican, described Mr. Norman’s passing as “sudden, shocking and devastating to his family and to everybody in Harford County.”
He said Mr. Norman “was not a political person,” that he focused on the issues facing his constituents and how his votes would affect “the voters, the people, the citizens.”
“He always had a smile on his face, he always was chipper to see everybody, and he just got along with everybody,” Mr. Jennings said. “He really was a good guy.”
H. Wayne Norman Jr. was the son of Howard and Juanita (Clark) Norman.
He graduated from the University of Baltimore in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in history, and later received a judicial doctorate from the University of Baltimore School of Law, according to his published obituary.
He married his high school sweetheart, Linda Isennock. The two were married 42 years.
He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1981, and his law firm, H. Wayne Norman Jr. P.A., is in downtown Bel Air. He was a former member of the Harford County Planning Advisory Board and the county’s Liquor Control Board.
He was appointed to the House of Delegates in January 2008 to fulfill the term of then-Del. Barry Glassman, a fellow Republican who had been appointed to a vacant Senate seat. Mr. Norman was elected to a full term in the House in 2010.
Mr. Glassman, now Harford County executive, described Mr. Norman, whom he had known since the mid-1980s, as “a great family man,” and “very jovial.”
“I was always proud that he took my delegate’s seat and I was just as proud of the job he did as senator for the northern part of Harford County,” Mr. Glassman said.
He said Mr. Norman had been an advocate for people with disabilities and the business community.
“He was an accomplished lawyer, businessman and public servant,” Mr. Glassman said. “I think he achieved a lot in his lifetime, a lot for the county to be proud of.”
Del. Teresa E. Reilly, head of Harford County’s House delegation and Mr. Norman’s former legislative aide in the House, fought back tears Sunday as she talked about a man who had been her boss, mentor, colleague and friend.
“Everyone respected him. He was a personable guy and just shared a lot of love and a lot of wisdom,” said Ms. Reilly, a Republican. “It’s a huge loss, my heart is broken and I’m sure a lot of others are as well.”
Mr. Norman was the senior Republican member of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. The committee chairman, Sen. Robert A. (Bobby) Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat, praised his colleague’s efforts to work across party lines and his “tremendously large heart.”
“It took anybody about 10 seconds to see how great of a person he was,” Senator Zirkin said. He said Mr. Norman wanted to be on the Judicial Proceedings Committee, which handles “some of the most intense and emotional parts of the law,” and he wanted Mr. Norman on the committee, too.
“He had decades of experience as a lawyer,” said Mr. Zirkin, who is also an attorney. He praised Mr. Norman’s efforts to ensure every witness who testified before the committee “felt like they got a fair shake,” and his efforts to leave partisan politics at the door. Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler called Mr. Norman “a titan of public service in Harford County – at the top of the list of our most respected elected officials.”
“He was strong, honest, funny, whipsmart, full of integrity, fearless and a great supporter of law enforcement,” he said on a post on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. “His leadership will truly be missed.”
Mr. Norman was a member of the Maryland State Bar Association and the Harford County Bar Association and a life member of the Harford County Republican Club, according to his biography on the Maryland government website.
He was also a member of the Western Maryland Railway Historical Society and the Sons of the American Legion, and an honorary life member of the Kingsville Volunteer Fire Company, the biography states.
Mr. Glassman ordered the Harford County flag lowered to half-staff in Senator Norman’s honor, and Gov. Larry Hogan ordered Maryland flags to be flown at half staff as well.
The Republican governor said in a statement that the senator had “devoted decades of his life to serving his constituents,” and noted Mr. Norman’s “advocacy on behalf of rural Marylanders and our veterans.”
In addition to his wife, Senator Norman is survived by a son, H. Wayne “Chip” Norman III of Bel Air; a daughter, Ashley Sicher of Newark, Ohio; a brother, Stephen Norman of Street; two sisters, Amy Owens of Forest Hill and Emily Meoli of Towson; and a granddaugher. A sister, Anne Hellmann, died in 2012. Sen. Robert A. Zirkin, a Democrat, praised Mr. Norman’s “tremendously large heart.”