Norman D. Gilmartin
May 29, 2026
Born in:
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Resided in:
Danvers, Massachusetts
Norman D. Gilmartin, 91, passed away in Danvers, MA on May 29, 2026 with loving family by his side.
Born in Pittsfield, MA, he graduated from the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, MA and St. Joseph’s High School in Pittsfield, MA. He attended college in St. Louis, MO and in Amherst, MA.
He met his beloved wife Elizabeth (Shea) through the Boston-area Deaf clubs where they socialized with many dear friends. They raised their children in West Peabody, MA and Osterville, MA and eventually settled in Portland, ME to be closer to their grandchildren.
Norman, an ever-curious and dedicated tinkerer, worked in the field of mechanical engineering and retired in 1999 from the Foxboro Company of Foxboro, MA. He was enormously proud of his work resulting in three U.S. Patents. A skilled carpenter, he crafted tables and desks, and, with the help of friends, built an impressive two-car garage from the ground up at the family home. He spent his free time meandering the aisles of home improvement stores stocking up for the next dream project.
As a young man, Norman was a good basketball player and an avid skier. He went on many ski trips with friends and taught his children to ski. As he got older, he switched to wheels. On weekends, he logged many hours biking all over the Cape. He loved giving his kids rides in his 60’s-generation Alpine Sunbeam convertible, always with the top down. Norman was a big New England sports fan, but especially of the Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics, whom he cheered on through thick and thin.
Norman was known for his tomato garden, and in summer its abundance was shared with one and all. He enjoyed a dip in Nantucket sound from the shore of Dowse’s beach, a cone from Four Seas, a basket of fried clam bellies with a side of clam chowder, and never turned down a homemade chocolate chip cookie.
Passionate about science, especially earth science, he could name and explain every rock formation he came across. Norman was an aeronautical fanatic – building models, eating lunch runway-side, and keeping up with new airplane styles (sharing that information with anyone taking a trip that involved flying). Later in life, he was delighted to use and share phone apps that gave information about the Earth and the night sky. Trips to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, to coastal California, tropical Maui, and the high desert of New Mexico, were some of his most cherished travel memories.
Predeceased by Elizabeth, his devoted wife of 61 years. And by his parents, Edward J. and Vera M. (Stetson) Gilmartin and his sister, Marilyn G. (Gilmartin) Halleck and her late husband, William L. Halleck. He was the loving father of Brenda Gilmartin of Portland, ME; Melissa (Gilmartin) Patrick (Douglas Patrick) of Freeport, ME; Sheila Gilmartin of Wayland, MA; and Thomas Gilmartin (Isadora Forman) of North Yarmouth, ME. Adoring Gramps of Faye and Oscar Gilmartin and Atticus and Owen Patrick.
He will be deeply missed by those who knew and loved him. Services and interment at Mosswood Cemetery in Cotuit, MA are planned for a later date. Online condolences are available at www.LyonsFuneral.com
View current weather.
Memories Timeline
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
My uncle Norman was always so kind and sweet when we would visit my grandpa Shea in Osterville. Dowes Beach was a most favorite place to swim and play and I have a vivid memory that has stuck with me for 55 years of uncle Norman picking me up and walking me from the surf‘s edge out to the sandbar at Dowes carrying me safely through the waves – Barb Shea Pote