Norman Bourland, 92, of Palm Beach County, FL, died on Sunday, July 21, 2024.
Burial will be held in St. Martin’s Cemetery in Farmersville.
Mr. Bourland was born on March 10, 1932, in Waverly, the third son of Lewis Galen and Mary Kathryn (King) Bourland. He married Mary Blanche Boehler in June 1953, and she preceded him in death. Hough Funeral Home in Hillsboro is assisting with arrangements.
After attending elementary schools in the central Illinois area, he graduated from Farmersville Unit HighSchool in 1949. He served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954 with assignments in the states, Japan and Korea. After his discharge, he, like so many others, went to work at Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Co., serving as a shop clerk on the evening shift.
While working the evening shift, Mr. Bourland started taking college courses during the day at Springfield Junior College, graduating in 1957 with an Associates Degree. He then commuted to Illinois College in Jacksonville, graduating in 1959 with a degree in business administration. After working for the Pillsbury Co., for five years, he went into civil service. His first assignment was as a supply systems analyst GS7 with the US Navy Electronics Suppy office in Great Lakes.
He switched to the US Army in 1969 and served in assignments in Ft. Sheridan, Ft. Sam Houston in Texas, Ft. Riley in Kansas, Ft. Eustis in Virginia and finally at the US Army Logistics Evaluation Agency at New Cumberland Army Depot in New Cumberland, PA. While at Ft. Sheridan, he attended a masters program at Roosevelt University, graduating in 1971 with a master’s degree in public administration.
Throughout his assignments, Mr. Bourland accepted increasing levels of responsibility and retired in May of 1992 as a supervisory logistics management specialist GM14. Upon retirement he and his family moved to Palm Beach County, FL.
He is survived by his daughter, Diane (Scott Harris) Robinson; two granddaughters, Creation Robinson and Autumn (Norbert) Eugene; three great-grandchildren, Terrance and Shaylla Robinson and Anaya Eugene; sister, Marilyn Mendenhall; brother, Robert Lowell; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Bourland was preceded in death by two brothers, Ralph Eugene and Bernard.
