Fred Norton: The Man Behind the Middlesex Health Hospice Golf Tournament

The Middlesex Health Hospice Golf Tournament is an annual fundraiser that supports the health system’s Hospice Program, and it has done so for 38 years. It also encourages participants to stay active by playing golf, and it allows the legacy of Fred Norton to live on. 

Fred is remembered by friends and family as a successful businessman, a veteran and a sports enthusiast, but it was his experience as a survivor of colon cancer in his late 40s that inspired him to make a lasting impact in his community. 

Decades ago, Fred, who died in 2019 at the age of 91, combined his love for golf with his desire to serve his community when he co-founded the Middlesex Health Hospice Golf Tournament with Portland Golf Course owner John J. Kelley, Jr., and that golf tournament continues today. This year’s Hospice Golf Tournament will take place on September 10. 

It’s important to Fred’s family to continue his work with the Hospice Golf Tournament. His daughters, Jill Norton and Cherie Norton, and his grandson, Ben Tierney, now all serve on the tournament’s committee, which plans the annual event.

“He was very proud of the golf tournament and very dedicated to it,” says Jill.

Fred was born in Middletown and graduated from Middletown High School, where he excelled in basketball, baseball and football. He also played semi-professional baseball for the Middletown Giants in the late 1940s. His achievements in sports earned him a coveted spot in the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame in 2019, just months before his passing.

Not long after high school, Fred married Jeanne Treat and served in the National Guard. In 1950, he was stationed in Virginia and then deployed to Germany to serve in the U.S. Army as a sergeant. When he returned to the United States, he worked for Sears, where he met his future business partner. Together, they bought a well-known local soda company, Undina Beverages in Higganum. If you grew up in, or near, Middlesex County, you might remember drinking a bottle of Undina soda, especially the popular white birch beer flavor.

“When we were kids, instead of lemonade stands, we had soda stands,” says Cherie. “One time, I remember that we ran out of soda at our little soda stand. My father’s company made quinine water and things that were a little unusual. So, we sold that!”

Fred was an accomplished golfer, and when he became a member of the Portland Golf Course in the 1980s, he found the perfect venue to create an event to give back to the community that he loved. As a hands-on organizer, Fred worked closely with Kelley to grow the Hospice Golf Tournament into what it is today.

“Working alongside Fred to establish the Middlesex Health Hospice Golf Tournament was a truly rewarding experience,” says Kelley. “Collaborating with him to build this annual fundraising event goes beyond the sport. It’s about making a difference in people’s lives.”

The tournament has raised a lifetime total of $1.2 million for the Middlesex Health Hospice Program, which provides compassionate care for patients who face life-limiting illnesses and their families. Many of the golfers have participated in the tournament for decades and have personal connections to the Hospice Program. They’ve either had family members or friends who were helped by the program. 

In 2019, Fred was a patient in the Middlesex Health Hospice Program — the very same program he supported for so many years. Fortunately, he was able to celebrate his 69th wedding anniversary with his wife and extended family before his death, and due to the efforts of his family and Kelley, his legacy of giving back to his community and the tradition of community support for the Hospice Program continues. 

“It’s not about the golf,” says Kelley, “It’s about the people.”

For more information about the Middlesex Health Hospice Golf Tournament and to watch for information about next year’s tournament, click here.