On January 2, 1935 in Bakersfield, California, Ethel and Edward Morrison were pleased to welcome their fifth child, and they named him Norman James. His dad, three brothers and one sister, however, decided to call him Punky and the nickname stuck. In adulthood, he was even known as Uncle Punky to the next generation.
Norman went to Rosedale Elementary School in Bakersfield and then Kern County High School. His head was turned by a girl named Cliffogean Welker, and they dated during her high school years and after.
When he was 23, Norman joined the army. He trained at Fort Ord in Monterey, and in the late 50s, he was sent to be part of the peacetime border guard on the West German side of the Iron Curtain.
After he had finished his stint in the army and Cliffogean had finished nursing school, they decided it was time to get married. In the Church of the Nazarene in Bakersfield, on January 17, 1960, Norman and Cliffogean would tie a knot that lasted 61 years. He and Cliffogean made their family complete by adding two baby girls, Robin in 1960 and Leah in 1964.
Norman kept busy working for Sandstone Brick, attending Bakersfield College, and building a house. By the end of the 1960s, Norman was working for Tractor Supply Company and was offered the assistant manager position for the branch in Visalia. So the family moved North and shortly afterwards bought the house on Redwood Drive where they lived together for 50 years. Norman moved on to work for hardware stores in Visalia and as a traveling salesman for three different hardware companies, selling throughout the Valley, from the Coast Range up to the Sequoias. He retired in 2009.
When he wasn’t working, Norman liked to get out and about. He and Cliffogean enjoyed square dancing in their younger years in both Bakersfield and Visalia. Norman was a member of the International Order of Hoo-Hoo and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
When the girls got older and joined 4-H, Norman was there too. He loved to teach leatherwork and woodworking. He also loved toy trains and train sets and got a large collection over the years. In his later years he stayed busy with the Ivanhoe Chapter of the American Legion, volunteering and many train clubs.
In 1983, Robin got married to Randy Manuszak and Leah went off to college. While it looked like it might be a lonely time, the very next year a whole new chapter in Norman’s life began – being a grandfather and eventually a great grandfather. Robin and Randy greeted Ben in 1984, Cameron in 1986, Kristin in 1988 and Bryan in 1990. In years to come, the grandchildren would have children of their own, and he took a particular joy in playing Santa for the great-grands, putting on a full Santa suit and showing up at their door with Cliffogean as Mrs. Santa.
His daughter Leah married Ken Stafford in 1990 and moved to the bay area and then the mountains. Norman and Cliffogean visited them whenever they could.
Norman’s parents, Ethel and Edward Morrison, and his siblings, Frank, John and Fred Morrison, and Shirley Morrison Lundquist, all passed on before him.
Norman is survived by his wife, Cliffogean Welker Morrison; his daughters and their spouses, Robin and Patty Fox, and Leah and Ken Stafford; his grandchildren and their spouses, Ben and Amanda Manuszak, Cameron Manuszak, Kristin and Matt Rossignol, and Bryan Manuszak; and his great grandchildren, Amelie, Camilla, Finn and Silas Rosignol and Evelyn and Elin Manuszak.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.millerchapel.com for the Morrison family.
