Age 20. 21 South Catherine Street, Mobile, AL. Born 4/16/1922, Mobile, AL. Died of burns (death certificate). Junior in naval architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (local address: 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA). Transfer student from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD. Known by his middle name Robert (also as "Bob"). First name William. His remains were identified Sunday evening at Northern Mortuary, Boston. Reportedly had no official military attachment at the time of his death. One of four M.I.T. civilian undergrads dead (also John Billings, age 19, Osborne Rainer, Jr., age 18, and Raymond Sullivan, age 34). "'Bob' enjoyed sports, especially boxing and hockey, and he loved dogs and hunting" (The Tech, M.I.T., 12/01/1942). Was raised in Mobile, AL. Graduate of Murphy High School, Mobile, AL, 1939. Scholastic nickname "Snake." Was single. One of seven Alabamians taken by the flames (also Ensign John Albritton, Sr., U.S.N.R., age 28, Lieut. Charles "Barney" Ireland, Jr., U.S.N.R., age 24, Broaddus Robinson, age 20, Lieut. John Stapleton, Jr., U.S. Army, age 25, and Pvt. Albert "Clyde" Sullivan, U.S. Army, age 22, plus the above Mr. Rainer), tied (with Pennsylvania) for the fourth-most victims from any state after Massachusetts (406), New York (15) and New Hampshire (9). Parents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. and Geraldine P. Norton, same Alabama address. Father was vice-president of Merchants National Bank, of Mobile, AL. The Boston Evening Globe, 11/30/1942: "With the assistance of naval officers, Duffy Lewis, traveling secretary of the [Boston baseball] Braves, and friend of the elder Norton, made the identification" (refers to George Edward "Duffy" Lewis. Born 4/18/1888, San Francisco, CA. Died 6/17/1979, in Salem, NH, age 91, former Boston Red Sox star outfielder from 1910 to 1917). Burial at Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, AL.

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