Norris E. Hartwell

Norris Hartwell, Early Resident of Lusk, State Examiner 25 Years, Dies

Funeral service was held Monday in Cheyenne for Norris E. Hartwell, 85, a prominent early day resident of Lusk who was State Examiner for twenty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Hartwell moved from Lusk to Cheyenne in 1939 but always considered Lusk home and retained their legal residence here through the years. He died March 14 in Evanston.

The Rev. David Congo assisted by the officers of the Wyoming Consistory No. 1 officiated at the service at the Schrader Chapel at 2:00 p.m. The body was cremated in Denver.

Honorary pallbearers were C. P. Owen, Floyd Deuel, Cecil Lyon, James Decker, George Clark, John Galka, Tom McDill, Charles Haines, William Strike, Dwight Bonham, Robert Bon, John Kennedy, Glen Cates, Ned Johnson, Tom Plemel, Robert Coomes, Dr. K. L. McShane, Dr. W. K. Mylar, Ed Foreman and Kenneth Sturman.

Mr. Hartwell was born in Floyd County, Virginia, July 13, 1887, the son of Dr. James E. and Nancy Hartwell. Dr. Hartwell was a practicing physician who lived to the age of 102.

Norris was educated in schools at Crawford, Neb., after his family moved there and later attended Doane College, Crete, Neb. He entered the banking business in Crawford moving to Lusk February 9, 1914, as cashier and managing officer of the First National Bank.

Five years later he left the bank and established an insurance agency and real estate office. In 1923 he became vice-president and managing officer of the First National Bank of Douglas, returning to Lusk in 1924 to open an abstract and title office.

He married Ethel Lang February 23, 1923, at Crawford. January 1, 1939, the Hartwell family moved to Cheyenne when he was named administrative assistant to former governor Nels H. Smith, a post he held until his appointment as State Examiner, by Smith, April 1, 1941.

Mr. Hartwell served as State Examiner under nine administrations for twenty-five years, longer than any other examiner of banks in the United States before retiring January 1, 1966.

In 1962 he was elected president of the National Association of Supervisors of State Banks.

Mrs. Hartwell died in Cheyenne January 8, 1958.

Mr. Hartwell was active in civic and fraternal organizations while living in Lusk and during his years in Cheyenne. He was a charter member of the Lusk Lions Club. He was particularly active in Masonry starting with his membership in Harmony Lodge No. 24 of Lusk in 1919. He was a past master of the lodge and retained his membership here until his death and was honored as a 50 year member in 1969. He was also a member of the Wyoming Consistory No. 1 receiving the honorary degree of KCCH. He was also a member of the Korein Temple of the Shrine.

The Hartwells had two children, a daughter, Orpha, who died at the age of three and a son Norris E. Hartwell, Jr. who now lives with his wife Ruth and children, Jane and Beth, at Anchorage, Alaska.

Also surviving are two sisters Miss Ethylyn Hartwell, Cheyenne, and Major Neva B. Maiser (US Army, retired) Mesa, Ariz., and a nephew J. G. Hartwell, Santa Ana, Calif.

The family has requested that memorials be made to the Charity fund of the Consistory in care of John Boucher, Cheyenne.

Images & Attachments

Related/Linked Records