Obituary of Norene Bigelow

Norene Salsbury Bigelow 1915 - 2014 Norene Rebecca Salsbury was born November 25, 1915, in the town of Palermo, New York, to John and Frances Salsbury. She died November 6 in State College, PA, at the age of 98 after a long and productive life lived primarily in Sherburne, New York. She remembered attending a one-room schoolhouse near her parents' farm, traveling to and from her lessons on horseback. Her family's focus was on work, church and family---a pattern that influenced her activities for the rest of her life. One very vivid childhood memory was falling into a small river at a church picnic and nearly drowning before being rescued. Norene survived a younger brother, Gail Salsbury, of Middletown, NY, and a younger sister, Lola Leete, of Earlville. The Salsbury family moved to Sherburne in 1929, so that John could manage the local GLF store. Among Norene's teen-age memories was working as a waitress in The Sherburne Inn. She graduated from Sherburne Central School in 1932 and earned a degree at Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York. She went on to Albany State in 1937 for a degree in Library Science. In 1941, she married Wilbur Davis Bigelow, oldest son of Sherburne pharmacist Orrin O. Bigelow and his wife, Irene. He and his middle brother, Oren, owned and operated Bigelow's Pharmacy in Sherburne for many years. A third brother, Carlton, was a pharmacist in Canastota, New York. Wilbur predeceased Norene in 2005. They are survived by three children, John (wife, Harriet), Jill Curley (husband, Charles), and Gerald. Six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren also survive. Norene's adult years were actively dedicated to education and church. She loved and lived to teach little children, an activity she continued even in her later years as a volunteer in State College, Pennsylvania. She first taught in Delmar, New York, later in Sherburne, including North Norwich. She did not hesitate from activism on behalf of the development of children. She and Wilbur were very active members of the First United Methodist Church of Sherburne. Their homes in Sherburne and Lake Craine were often the scene of church-related meetings and fellowship events; countless hours were devoted to activities in worship and fellowship with friends and other members. For health reasons, Norene and Wilbur moved to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania in 1999, and later to the nearby city of State College, to be near their daughter, Jill Curley, as their need for nearby family care increased. There, she became an active member of the State College Presbyterian Church, pastored by her son-in-law, Charles Curley. She was well known in her retirement community as a woman who was outgoing, interested in making many friends, active to the end, and as "the lady who gives the parties." She loved to entertain small groups of acquaintances in her apartment. She refused to let severe hearing impairment and other afflictions of age interfere with her need to be active (the country abounds with crocheted snowflakes she made). A memorial service will be conducted in Sherburne at a later date. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.