Cooperatively Yours
a newsletter for alumni, students, parents and friends
Cooperatively Yours General Manager George Proper Retires |
Hillegass-Parker House Honors Co-op Pioneers
By Meera Vaidyanathan
Alumni Coordinator
Hillegass-Parker House residents recently voted unanimously to name their north house property Audrey and Hal Norton House. Hal Norton (Oxford Hall, Sheridan Hall 1934-39) served as the USCA’s visionary General Manager and Corporate Secretary from 1941 to 1966. Under his tenure, the USCA purchased six co-ops and built Ridge Project (now known as Casa Zimbabwe).
From the moment Hal stepped foot into Sheridan, the co-ops were more than a cheap place to live. He met his wife Audrey (Lexington Hall, 1934-39) at a co-op dance, and they were married shortly thereafter. Audrey helped to make Hal’s vision for the Co-op a reality, holding numerous fundraisers from the 40’s-60’s. Audrey passed away in 2002, after 59 years of marriage.
Hal considers his co-op days as among the best memories of his life: “A time in your youth when the spirits were high and the blood ran gold…those memories will be important to you...they will sustain you as they have sustained me.”