AUBURN, AL - William Norman Booker, 88, a longtime resident of Asheville, NC, passed away on January 6th at Camellia Place in Auburn, AL. A native of Greensboro, NC, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Education in 1956 and was a member of the UNC wrestling team. At UNC, Norman was in the Naval ROTC. He interrupted his studies during the Korean War, where he served as Sonarman Second Class in the United States Coast Guard. After his time in the service, he developed a wanderlust that took him on adventures hitchhiking across the country, including working as a smelter in Anaconda, Montana, before returning to Chapel Hill. A playwright, Norman wrote The Ladies of Lee, which was performed by the PlayMakers Repertory Company (formerly Carolina Playmakers Theater). The play combined his abiding love of language and environmental conservation. The Ladies of Lee, which was about the conservation of an old oak tree, became the basis for an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. Normans play, however, proved more important than he could have imagined. During the production, he met and fell in love with Ella May Cashwell, the plays stage manager. They married on August 17, 1957, at Moores Chapel Baptist Church in Saxapahaw, NC, and were happily married for 54 years. They were charter members of the Burlington Writers Club and the Burlington Playmakers. Early in his career, he was a feature writer for the Burlington Chamber of Commerce. In 1958, they moved to Greensboro, NC, where Norman worked as an insurance adjuster and claims investigator. In 1969, he became a Facility Surveyor and Team Leader for the State of NC, moving to Asheville, NC, in 1975. For more than 27 years, Norman worked as a certified Healthcare Financing Administration compliance surveyor and was Program Manager for the NC Division of Facilities Services. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Chief of the Western Regional Survey Branch Office in Black Mountain, NC. He received a Master of Public Affairs in Health Management at Western Carolina University in 1988. In 1992, the Healthcare Financing Administration awarded him National Surveyor of the Year, Atlanta Region Surveyor of the Year, and NC Surveyor of the Year. Throughout his life, Norman loved spending time at the family cottage in White Lake, NC, where he crafted his own waterskis and built the lakes first ski jump. He enjoyed waterskiing of all types, especially trick skiing. He was also the patient guide who taught countless children and adults to ski. When not on the water, he also enjoyed snow skiing with his son in the beloved Blue Ridge Mountains. Norman was always the one with the quick wit, the snappy rejoinder that enlivened a conversation. He had divergent interests and talents--from engineering to poetry. He is a longtime member and past president of French Broad Mensa and the Haw Creek Lions Club. Norman was also keenly interested in genealogy and actively traced his familys lineage. Always politically engaged and tirelessly fighting for social justice, he ran for the state legislature in 1968, and he remained a dedicated member of the Democratic Mens Club and the Buncombe County Democratic Party. With near perfect recall of century-old songs, Norman was always singing and could spontaneously come up with the perfect song for the occasion. In his late 70s and early 80s, he enjoyed spending summers accompanying his older grandson, John, at the Swannanoa Gathering Old Time Music Festival, where the two performed ballads together on stage. His later years were also enriched by the arrival of his younger grandson and namesake, William, of whom he was also very proud. A man of deep Christian faith, Norman was lay leader for Bethesda United Methodist Church, where he served in a variety of offices over the 43 years that it was his church home. He also played important roles in the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry. During his time in Auburn, AL, he was welcomed by the generous members of Grace United Methodist Church. He also appreciated the fellowship of the residents and the care of the staff at Camellia Place in Auburn, AL. Norman is preceded in death by his wife, Ella May Cashwell Booker, his parents, William Gray Booker and Nina Emmaline Park Booker; one sister, Laurena Booker Japenga, M.D., and her husband, Jack; one brother-in-law, Edgar Allen Cashwell, and his wife, Olive; two uncles, Arthur Isaac Park, and his wife, Maie; Roy Hampton Park, and his wife, Dorothy; and one aunt, Mary Ethel Park Broome, and her husband, Hoyle. Norman is survived by one son, Raymond Norman Booker and his wife, Tamela Powell Booker, M.D., of Franklin, TN; one daughter, Suzanne Renee Booker-Canfield, Ph.D., and her husband, John Charles Canfield, of Auburn, AL; and two grandsons, William Powell Booker and John Charles Canfield, Jr.; four nieces, Linda Carol Cashwell Franklin and her husband, Tony, of Greenville, NC; and Ellen Marie Cashwell Caldwell, Ph.D., and her husband, Roy, of Canton, NY, Ann Japenga and her partner Christy Porter of Palm Springs, CA; and Dee Dee Japenga Canzoneri of San Dimas, CA; two nephews, Bill Japenga and his wife Liz of Portland, OR; and Chuck Japenga and his wife Geri of San Dimas, CA; and four great nieces and nephews, Grace Chandler Caldwell and Jake, Joe, and Sienna Johnston. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 3, at Groce United Methodist Church with the Rev. Karen Doucette officiating. The family will receive friends at the church after the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Bethesda United Methodist Church, 315 Old Haw Creek Rd, Asheville, NC 28805. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 3, at Groce United Methodist Church with the Rev. Karen Doucette officiating. The family will receive friends at the church after the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Bethesda United Methodist Church, 315 Old Haw Creek Rd, Asheville, NC 28805.