Deputy’s mom finds comfort in God, family
Norman Lewis reviewed the menu for his 35th birthday celebration during his nightly phone conversation with his parents in Port Charlotte.
The party last year for the Orange County Sheriff ’s Office deputy was delayed because Norman’s father, John Lewis, was hospitalized more than a week with congestive heart failure and asthma. John was released Jan. 2, 2017 — Norman’s birthday.
Norman declared it the best birthday, said his mother, Norma Lewis.
On the phone Jan. 8, 2017, the family of three planned his party for the coming Saturday. There would be turkey. Ham. Macaroni and cheese. Collard greens. Potato salad.
And, of course, red-velvet cake — Norman’s favorite dessert.
They ended that conversation with “I love you.” Norma Lewis knew her son would call again the next day, like he always did.
But he never got the chance.
The next morning, Norman was pursuing accused cop killer Markeith Loyd when he was thrown from his motorcycle after colliding with a van. He died about an hour later at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
That wasn’t the only death Norma Lewis faced last year. But she has kept going through her fervent faith in God and by continuing to be a mother to Norman’s friends.
“We’re celebrating. We’re not mourning,” Norma, 59, said Tuesday, on what would have been her son’s 36th birthday. She pushed her glasses up to wipe a tear away. “My heart is full. These are tears of joy.”
In an instant, Norma and John went from planning their only child’s birthday to arranging his funeral.
John stood by Norma and held her arm as she wept over their son’s casket Jan. 15, 2017. The community mourned with them, as Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton, whom Loyd is accused of shooting to death, was laid to rest the day before. The couple took their son back home to be buried in Port Charlotte, where they had lived since 1988.
Norman was buried on the right of his mother’s plot. Norma and John would visit and sit on a bench facing the headstone. The couple, married 37 years, got through the loss together.
Then on May 6, 2017, John died. Within the span of four months, Norma Lewis buried her husband and son.
Now, Norma talks to both of the men she loves from the bench where she imagined her son would visit her.
She remembers Norman and John dancing together in the living room of their house, trips to attend Norman’s football games when he played for the University of Central Florida and Norman’s commitment to Orlando.
“Orlando needs help,” Norma recalls him saying when he told his parents he would stay in Central Florida after college.
Norman mentored kids at Union Park Elementary School, near where he patrolled as a deputy for the Orange County Sheriff ’s Office. He often donated food to their families.
Norma vowed to continue her son’s legacy. She moved to Sanford. She graduated from the 13-week Orange County Sheriff ’s Office citizens police academy. And on what would have been Norman’s 36th birthday, she organized a food drive along with his birthday party.
The year has been hard, Norma said. She especially grappled with the absence of her son’s regular phone calls. And she misses his hugs — the way he would pick her up, swing her around, put her down and say, “Let me see how you look.” Standing at 6 feet, 5 inches, he towered about a foot over her.
Norma refuses to wallow in grief.
“Ain’t no pity party around here,” Norman used to say.
She has relied on her faith.
“God will put no more on you than you can bear,” Norma said. “Sometimes it seems so heavy, but I know that God is with me.”
Her extended family, which now includes Norman’s friends, has helped her.
On Norman’s birthday last week, dozens of friends and family members surrounded Norma as they prepared to send balloons into the air from the parking lot of Real Life Christian Church in east Orange County.
They sang “Happy Birthday” and released black, blue, red, yellow and green balloons. Norma watched as they sailed away, becoming specks in the sky.
Susan Soto kissed Norma’s cheek. Susan and her husband, Frank Soto, both sergeants at the Sheriff ’s Office, didn’t know Norma before Norman’s death. But Norman was very special to them — and now Norma is, too.
“Birthdays are always better in Heaven! We love you Norm. Norma is now and forever part of our family,” Susan, Frank and their son, Christian, wrote on a poster signed by guests at the birthday party.
Norma has also become a second mom to Christian, a freshman at Lake Nona High School and a football player. Norma attended Christian’s football games, hauling a bag of shakers for cheering in the stands. She passed them out to other parents, and soon the noise from their side of the stadium drowned out the opposing fans, the Sotos said.
“‘Don’t worry, Susie. I will teach you everything you need to know for Christian,’ ” Susan recalled Norma saying about football.
Through passing on her experiences, Norma continues to be a mother to many “adoptive sons.”
Christian recently made the varsity team. It’s a lot of work, he said at Norman’s party.
“But work pays off, like I used to tell Norm,” Norma quipped.
At the party, there was red-velvet cake. Afterward, friends and family went to Maggiano’s Little Italy for a three-course meal. Norman would have loved it, his mother said.
“He loved his birthday because it involved cake, food and a lot of people,” Norma said. “This is a special and blessed day.”
“He loved his birthday because it involved cake, food and a lot of people. This is a special and blessed day.” Norma Lewis about her son, Deputy Norman Lewis