Curtis Henry Norris, retired vice president of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Durham, N.C., and father of Cincinnati Councilwoman Minette Cooper, died Sunday at the Victoria Retirement Community in Norwood. He had lived in Avondale since 1990.

        Mr. Norris, 88, spent 43 years in the life-insurance industry.

        “His word was his bond,” said a daughter, Henri E. Norris of San Francisco. “He had an impeccable reputation as someone who was there for people.”

        Ms. Cooper added that “He lived by the golden rule.”

        Mr. Norris was assigned to North Carolina Mutual's Atlanta office. There, he met Minnie Calloway, whom he married in 1947.

        In 1951, he joined the Mammoth Life Insurance Co. in Indianapolis, where he served as district manager for 11 years. He also worked at that company's Louisville bureau for five years.

        Mr. Norris rejoined North Carolina Mutual in 1967, and retired as vice president in 1980.

        A native of Knoxville, he studied at Hampton Institute in Hampton, Va., for two years and earned a degree in business administration in 1937 from West Virginia State College.

        In 1962 he received a diploma in agency management from the American College of Life Underwriters and was designated a chartered life underwriter in 1964.

        Mr. Norris was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, the examination board of the Life Underwriters Training Council, the education committee of the NAACP in Indianapolis, and the American Bridge Association. He was also a past president of the Queen City Bridge Unit.

        Mr. Norris was active in the Episcopal Church wherever he lived, serving in the vestry and as a lay reader.

        His first wife died in 1988.

        In addition to his daughters, survivors include Edna Hogue, his wife of six years; a son, Curtis H. Norris Jr. of Englewood, N.J.; a stepson, Darwin Keith Turner of Atlanta; a stepdaughter, Pamela Turner Welch of Austin, Texas; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

        A memorial service is 7 p.m. today at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 1809 Rutland Ave. The family will receive visitors at 6 p.m. Interment will be in North Carolina.

        Memorials: Multiple Sclerosis Society, 4460 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 236, Blue Ash 45241.

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