Remembering Dr. Will Norton

Missionary and leader in theological education Hugo Wilbert “Will” Norton died February 20, 2017 at his residence in Go Ye Village, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Dr. Norton was Distinguished Professor of Missions, Emeritus at RTS Charlotte and taught at RTS Jackson as well. Born Feb. 14, 1915, he was 102. Norton’s passion to serve led him to many nations. He was a missionary in the Congo for 10 years and later founded a Bible institute in Zaire and a seminary in Nigeria. He and Colene, his wife of 77 years, had lived in Tahlequah since February 2004. Norton’s work in education included serving as professor of missions, dean of education, and president of Trinity College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He joined the faculty of Wheaton Graduate School in Wheaton, Ill. and was named dean in 1971. He was the second General Secretary of the Student Foreign Missions Fellowship (SFMF) that became the Missions Department of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He was the founder of the Bible Institute of the Ubangi (now Goyongo Theological Seminary), the missions program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and at Wheaton Graduate School. He also helped found the doctoral program in missions at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss, in 1989 and was the founding principal of the Jos/ECWA Theological Seminary in Nigeria, 1980. Norton co-authored the influential missiology volume, What’s Gone Wrong with the Harvest? In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Norton Scholarship funds at Columbia International University, Reformed Theological Seminary, Trinity International University or Wheaton College.