Anne Hall was born on March 23, 1930 in her mother’s house near the intersection of Shelby Drive and Getwell Roads, the last of eight children born to Robert and Alice Hall. She attended Capleville Elementary School and completed her education at Whitehaven High School. She married Jack Wagoner shortly afterward and made a home in a 29 foot house trailer located in a field on her father’s 100 acre property. In 1957 they built a modest house on Getwell Road, her first home with “Indoor” plumbing. She married Felix Norris in 1983 after Jack’s passing in 1972.
One of her earliest jobs was as the editor for a weekly newspaper, the Shelby County News. She went to work for Holiday Inns in 1960; initially in Franchise Sales, then Public Relations working her way up through the organization until her retirement 32 years later as the Secretary to the Board of Directors of the International Association of Holiday Inns, Inc. During her tenure she traveled to 22 foreign countries and visited every state in the union. She obtained her private pilot’s license and competed for 2 years in the Powder Puff Derby: the women’s transcontinental air race with Holiday Inns as her sponsor. She did all of this while raising three children.
After retirement, she was a volunteer Pink Lady at U.T. Methodist Hospital for many years. Anne was a gifted speaker and author. She wrote and published 4 books of short stories, contributed works to two more and was president of the Memphis Story Tellers’ League. She spent countless hours practicing her craft at schools, hospitals and nursing homes. She was active in the Oakhaven and Crossroads United Methodist Churches. She celebrated her 80th birthday by making a tandem parachute jump. After Felix passed away in 2018, she enjoyed living on the top floor of The Parkview before moving in with her daughter Janet and granddaughter Joanna in February 2020.
Anne passed away peacefully at her daughter’s home on July 13, 2022. She is survived by her daughter, Janet Harris and sons, Gary and Michael Wagoner; granddaughters, Allison Wagoner Daily, Jennifer Wagoner Handley, Joanna Harris, and Amanda Harris Gilman; and great-grandchildren, Charles Daily, Jonathan Daily, Trenton Endsley, Kai Handley, Emmett Gilman, Liam Wren, and Mary Ann Wren.
A visitation for Anne will be held Monday, July 18, 2022 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38119. Following the visitation will be a graveside service at 3:30 PM, at Bethlehem Cemetery, 5349 East Holmes Road, Memphis, TN 38118.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy for the Norris family may be shared at www.MemphisFuneralPoplar.com
