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EDEN — Some people called his ideas absurd, such as consolidating Leaksville, Spray and Draper into one town, putting millions into expanding the water system or letting a brewery settle into a nice, God-fearing place like Eden.

But Jones Norman, Eden’s first elected mayor in 1968, pushed for all those things. In an interview in 2003, he said he was just grateful to have lived long enough to have the last laugh.

Norman, who died Aug. 2 at the age of 96, lived long enough to see his many ideas came to fruition.

In the 1950s and ’60s, folks knew Norman as an outspoken Leaksville city councilman. He strongly advocated for the consolidation of the three towns, opposing some of the most stalwart residents.

Norman felt that consolidation was the only way the area could keep pace with neighboring towns.

With the same determination, he urged Eden voters to pass an $8 million bond referendum to improve the water system, and in the 1970s, he endorsed the idea of diversifying the economy with the addition of Miller Brewery, now MillerCoors.

He believed his frank talk got him elected as Eden’s first mayor. And being a man of action kept him in the job for 15 years.

“Sometimes you have to rap that gavel and hit it hard,” he said in that 2003 interview.

After the first vote for consolidation was defeated in the 1950s, Norman joined forces with other community leaders to get it back on the ballot in 1967.

The referendum passed on Sept. 13, 1967, Norman’s birthday.

As a Leaksville city councilman, Norman was placed on a new City Council that was created by combining the councils from each of the three towns.

“If you think dealing with City Council is tough today, just try getting 27 to agree on something,” Norman said.

Norman was appointed mayor pro-tem of that combined council. But two months into the stint, the interim mayor, who also had been appointed, resigned and Norman took over.

In the first official election, voters gave Norman the job — hence his claim as the town’s first elected mayor. He served from late 1967 until 1971, when he decided not to run for re-election.

In 1973, he put his name on the ballot again and served as Eden’s mayor until 1981.

There was much to do in those early days of the city. The first was whittling down the staff. With consolidation, Eden suddenly had three fire chiefs, three police chiefs and several other duplicate positions.

Norman also worked with the council to equalize services throughout the new town. There were roads to pave, water and sewer lines to put in. The council needed to hire a city manager.

Those were history-making years, but city politics would not be what Norman would define as his proudest achievement. That was bringing the Salvation Army to Eden.

In the late 1970s, the closest Salvation Army was in Reidsville. For many of Eden’s needy, it might as well have been in Greensboro. They just didn’t have the transportation to get there.

He underplayed his role, claiming that all he did was place a phone a call to Salvation Army’s headquarters and set the wheels in motion.

Carol Kasten, who currently leads the Rockingham County Salvation Army Advisory Board, tells it a bit differently.

“He was mayor at the time, and he went to Charlotte and persuaded the district leaders of the Salvation Army there to put one here,” she says.

The new Eden Salvation Army opened in 1980 in the Spray community, in a building Norman secured.

Once it opened, he did everything from serve on the board to sweeping the floors and dishing up soup.

“It was his passion every day from that point on,” Kasten says, adding that he was made a lifetime member of the board and was presented the William Booth Award, the highest honor the Salvation Army gives.

When Norman wasn’t running the city or volunteering at the Salvation Army, he worked at Fieldcrest.

A native of the area, Norman started to work at the company in 1931, when it was Marshall Field & Co.

In those days, he made 12½ cents an hour in the shipping department at the Karastan rug mill.

He spent 51 years with the company, retiring in 1983 as Karastan’s personnel director.

When his wife, Anne, died in 1990, he became a greeter at Walmart, a perfect job since he knew almost everyone who came through the doors.

“He said he couldn’t sit around the house,” said Lee Norman, his son and only child.

In his later years, he enjoyed politics from the sidelines, never hesitating to chime in with his opinion on current issues before the city council or write a letter to the editor to share his thoughts.

Whether you agreed or not, you knew where Norman stood.

“I was never mealy-mouthed,” Norman said.

That may have been his greatest asset. It was certainly the reason that he felt people trusted him to set the course for the brand-new town.

Contact Myla Barnhardt at 627-4881, Ext. 116, or myla.barnhardt@news-record.com