Norma E. Griner Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Norma Elizabeth Dungee was the only child of her parents, Lygia Calantha Cross Dungee and Roger Benton Dungee, Sr., and she had to 2 stepsisters and 2 stepbrothers by her father. Her parents divorced when she was very young. From then on she attended school in Philadelphia and spent time with her Wilmington, Delaware cousins in the winter, and stayed with her father in the summer. She took the train from Philly where her mother made certain Norma was watched over by a conductor and seated in the Jim Crow car so she wouldn't have to change cars at the Mason Dixon Line on her way to Norfolk, Virginia. Norma was bright, very bright. She skipped several elementary grades and attended the prestigious Philadelphia Girls' High School. She graduated from Temple University with a degree in German and a teaching certification. The National Security Agency hired her to work in Washington D.C. as a civilian employee. She was trained to decode Russian because of her affinity for languages having already studied Latin, French, and German. She married Air Force NSA decoder Howard Griner September 1954 and had their first child, Elizabeth in 1955. Shortly after Howard was stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany. They lived outside the base in Darmstadt and sent Elizabeth to a German Kindergarten. Norma taught English at a Berlitz school and gave talks on Negro Life in the USA. Their 2nd child, Lawrence was born there in February 1959 just before Howard was transferred to San Angelo, Texas. Their 3rd child, Howard Joseph was born in 1960 while Norma was visiting her mom in Harrisburg. Another transfer to Fort Meade, Maryland brought the family to the home they bought in Baltimore. Their 4th child, Jeffrey was born in 1965. Both Howard and Norma were "strict". One of us gave Norma a mug with the following poem: A mean mother never allows candy or sweets to take the place of a well-balanced meal. A mean mother insists on knowing where her children are at all times, who their friends are and what they do. A mean mother breaks the child labor law by making her children work. . . washing dishes, making beds, learning to cook, cleaning the bathroom, and doing other chores. A mean mother makes life miserable for her offspring by insisting that they always tell the truth. A mean mother produces teenagers who are wiser and more sensible. A mean mother can smile with secret delight and pride when she hears her own grandchildren call their parents "mean." Mom emphasized education. Homework first. She would help with difficult math problems. She was a PTA officer. All of us were expected to study something cultural - any instrument or dance. My brothers were Jr. Orioles. We attended Resident and Day Camp, participated in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, sports teams, and Red Shield Indian Dancers. We attended Sunday School. She was a Girl Scout leader for a troop at her church for several years and volunteered to tutor children at an afterschool program. Family was important to Mom and we frequently visited with them for holidays and whenever possible. Our relatives instilled in us a history of family, of civil rights, and an understanding current events. Even when Mom & Dad divorced, we stayed in touch with both sides of the family. Norma started working at the Social Security Administration in claims, shortly after moving to Baltimore. She jumped at the opportunity to train and work with computers when the government first installed them. While still working at SSA, she completed a master’s degree in Business Administration through George Washington University classes held at the Social Security building. (She had applied and been denied acceptance to classes at the GWU campus because of her race.) In the years just prior to and after Mom's retirement in 1988 we had trouble getting hold of her. (Remember no cell phones then.) She was no couch potato. Two nights a week she had choir practice. She traveled frequently to musical venues like the Lincoln Center in NYC for opera and the Kennedy Center in DC for all sorts of performances. Dragging Jeffrey along, she spent weeks at Tanglewood in Massachusetts for concerts and workshops and the opportunity to sit in on rehearsals conducted by Leonard Bernstein. She attended Wagner's The Ring Operas Series in Seattle and drove the Pacific Highway south to San Francisco by herself enjoying the Pacific west coast scenery. She made the mistake of buying a bunch of fruit in Oregon which she couldn't take into California. She sat in the rest area in Oregon and ate as much as she could and gave the rest to the attendants. For more than 8 years she attended the week-long Berkshire Choral Festival Music camp for adults in Massachusetts, Austria, or London. Mom's biggest undertaking (besides raising 4 kids) was serving in the Peace Corp after retiring. The opportunity was a dream deferred since Pres. Kennedy had announced the program at its beginning. She taught English to medical students in Morocco, North Africa for 2 years. Her interests were many. Like her music, Mom loved flowers and gardening. Over the years she grew many different types and shades of flowers both inside and out. In 1966 she had 52 different rose bushes and provided every girl graduating in Elizabeth's class with a rose. Her musical participation grew as we aged, and she found more time for herself. We lived through opera every Saturday afternoon "Live from the Metropolitan Opera" on the radio. Then she started subscribing to the Baltimore Symphony at both the Lyric Theatre and then the Meyerhoff and joined the Baltimore Symphony Chorus in 1976. She sang with the chorus for 24 years and was grief stricken when it was disbanded in 2002. The Baltimore Sun paper did a full-page article on Mom being the last original member of the BSO chorus in 2002. Norma enjoyed and was quite talented at knitting, crocheting and hooking rugs. She also dabbled for a while with bargello and needlepoint. Because of her interest in civil rights, she joined the Baltimore Neighborhoods

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Norma E. Griner

November 1, 1930 - June 6, 2022