Former La-Z-Boy chairman dies

MONROE, Mich. Patrick Norton, chairman emeritus of La-Z-Boy and the company’s former chairman of the board, has died. Norton passed away on Dec. 4, after a short illness in Greensboro, N.C., the company announced. Norton was 86 years old.

Norton began his career in the furniture department at a St. Louis-based retailer in 1939 after attending Washington University. Interrupted by five years of wartime service, Norton returned to furniture retailing and later became vp of sales and a member of the board of Baumritter/Ethan Allen before moving to La-Z-Boy in 1981. He became chairman of the board in 1997.

Kurt Darrow, ceoof La-Z-Boy, said, “The furniture business has suffered a great loss with Pat Norton’s passing. He was truly a leader in this industry and a visionary in helping create the furniture landscape we know today, including being the ‘caretaker of the legacy’ left by the La-Z-Boy founders and taking our company to even higher levels. He had a profound impact on the success of La-Z-Boy and on the lives of everyone with whom he worked. Pat was an extraordinary human being and one of the most generous men I’ve ever known. I am deeply saddened to lose not just a mentor and a colleague, but a very dear friend. On behalf of all my colleagues, I would like to express our deepest sympathies to Pat’s family.”