Norman Vern Shipley, 80, died October 13, 2025. A memorial service will be 2:00 p.m. Monday, October 20, 2025 at the Strode Funeral Home Chapel. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of the arrangements.

Norman was born on October 23, 1944 to Vern C. Shipley and Mary Nell Shipley in Greenville, Tennessee. Vern died in WWII in July of 1944, and Norman was raised with younger brother Jerry Shipley and cousin Ikey Broyles in a big two-story home in downtown Stillwater with their Grandma Greene, who they called Mama, their grandfather who they called Pap, and Mary Nell, who they called mother. Despite living in town, they had a small farm with gardens, chickens, and even a couple of milk cows. Some folks here today may also remember Taco Hut, which is the restaurant his mother ran, and his children often pitched in at during evenings and weekends.

He leaves behind a big family of his own; Norman and his wife of 63 years, Phyllis Shipley, have three children, Connie Tatum, Dale Shipley, and Jana Shipley, who preceded Norman in death when cancer took her in 2017, and who was surely waiting to greet him on the other side with a big smile and a wry joke.

He has five grandchildren: Matt and Jennifer Tatum, Laken Quinn, and Lane and Gabe Shipley. He also has seven great-grandchildren: Bella Tatum, Zander Tatum, Hazel and Frank Hoffmeier and their sisters Lucy and Miriam Quinn, and Hudson Shipley, youngest of the bunch.

Norman was notoriously difficult to get to know, even to those who loved him, because he was a complex and multifaceted man. His exterior could be stoic and reserved (even abrasive at times if we're being really honest), but that exterior was a protective layer housing a heart full of love and tenderness that he often struggled to express but was always present.

That tender heart of his was always on full display when it came to his animals though-whether it be the donkeys he kept for 20 years, the wild geese his family had to talk him out of feeding every morning, the feral cats who would show up outside, or the many dogs the Shipley family kept and loved over the years.

He was an adventurous man; he and Phyllis travelled the United States often as young family and Norman even used to sky dive. He used to be quite a party boy too before slowing down to live a quieter life where he ran his construction business and spent time at home with his family. He ran Shipley Swimming and Construction for over 40 years where he made many friends whom he considered family.

Norman's interests were as diverse as his personality; he was something of a renaissance man in his private life. He loved history and the arts, even dabbling-skillfully I might add-in photography. He was never without a garden, his grandchildren all share memories of him on his tractor or sowing seeds, and he kept gardening right up until his body would no longer allow it. And a little-known fact about Norman, which his granddaughter Laken (author of this eulogy) remembers fondly, was his love of science fiction, he would often be up until all hours of the night watching the Sci-Fi channel with his daughter Jana.

Norman's last few years of life were difficult, a revolving door of doctor's appointments and surgeries, but through it all the people who loved him most did everything they could to make him slow down (he was a stubborn man, as his family knows) and keep him comfortable.

Life doesn't quite feel the same with his recliner empty, but he's leaving behind a family legacy full of warmth and eccentricity and the impression he left on the world around him will continue to ripple through many generations.