Obituary: Hugh Norsworthy ’36

(The above published in The Gazette on January 26, 2013)

Hugh Norsworthy attended Selwyn House when it was located on Redpath Street, winning the McMaster Cup in 1936. He continued his education as Bishop’s College School, then entered McGill University in the fall of 1939, leaving soon afterward to join the Royal Canadian Air Force. Mr. Norsworthy flew cross-channel bombing runs from England to the European mainland by day and night, leading Typhoon Squadron 439 during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. For that and other actions during WWII he received the Distinguished Flying Cross.

After the war, Mr. Norsworthy returned to McGill, going on to earn a BA in 1947 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1949. He immediately went to work for Alcan Aluminum, holding positions in finance, sales and marketing in Canada Britain and the U.S.

He had two sons graduate from Selwyn House: Gordon’64 and Thomas ’70.

Mr. Norsworthy was first elected to the Selwyn House Association Board of Directors in 1960, serving as treasurer from 1960-1964. He was elected chairman of the board in 1964 and served in this capacity until 1967.

These were years of great transition for Selwyn House. The school had just moved from its former home on Redpath St. to its present location on Cote St. Antoine, with Mr. Norsworthy serving on the board committee responsible for financing the acquisition. Much of what is now known as the Lucas Building was still under renovation and construction, and the school’s population and curriculum were expanding. In 1963-64 the school extended its curriculum to include all 11 grades, thus offering a full college-entrance education for the first time in its history.

In 1967, Mr. Norsworthy was transferred to Toronto on business. Upon his return to Montreal in 1976, he was invited to rejoin the SHA Board as chairman, where he served until 1979.

His second term was also a period of great change for the school, with the introduction of French Immersion and the purchase of the school’s first computer. At the same time, there were other changes taking place within and without the school that placed new demands on the board. Not only were parents, teachers and students demanding a stronger voice in how the school was run, but so was the Quebec government.

“Mr. Norsworthy was admirably suited to the task confronting him,” wrote SHS teacher the late Edgar Moodey in his 1978 history of the school, Veritas. “While never having any doubt concerning his own opinions, he never gave them an undue prominence, but opened a wide net to gather the considered judgments of others, and showed a rare skill in arriving at a first-class consensus. His strategy was necessary in the disturbing times through which he kept a deft hand on the tiller, and the school owes a debt to his adroit leadership which avoided so many reefs of discord and discontent that plagued the establishing of a secondary education in the mid-sixties and later.”

Mr. Norsworthy retired from the business world in 1984 and joined the faculty of the McGill School of Business, teaching courses in industrial marketing and living in Hudson with his wife, Jane.

Mr. Norsworthy returned to the school on Founder’s Day 1996 to receive the Speirs Medal. During the presentation ceremony, SHA Board Chair Craig Shannon described Mr. Norsworthy as “a tireless friend and advisor to the school who has invested numerous hours and effort as a board member, giving strategic direction to the school.”

Mr. Norsworthy, who had been a good friend of Dr. Robert Speirs, said that he was touched to receive the medal in his former colleague’s name.

“Those of us of the older generation are absolutely overwhelmed by the vitality of Selwyn House,” said Mr. Norsworthy in his acceptance speech. The vitality of Mr. Norsworthy would, no doubt, overwhelm many those of today’s generation at Selwyn House.