Todd Norman

Todd Norman, 49, of Amarillo died on September 24, 2020. Services are being held at Hillside Christian Church, Monday September 28th, 2020 at 1pm. Arrangements are being made by Schooler Funeral Home.

Todd was born June 17, 1971 to Ronnie and Glennda Norman. He is the oldest between him and his sister Tammy, who even though he picked on her a lot he was always there to protect and take care of her. He was in the first graduating class of Randall High School in June of 1989. He and his high school friends were infamous for the shenanigans and mischief they caused. He took his dad’s car for joyrides many times with his friends, and even got his mom so angry one morning before school that she forgot to open the garage door and backed right into it. In high school he won the Texas State competition in automotive mechanics and thus ensured him a full-ride scholarship to the Universal Technical Institute in Houston, where he graduated with an Associates of Occupational Studies in Automotive Technology in October of 1990. After graduating and moving back to Amarillo he met the love of his life Angel, and they were married in May of 1992. They had three children together, Mitchell, Julie, and Ashley.

He loved his family more than words could say and adored spending time with his children, and niece and nephew, Todd and Delaynah, who he cared for and loved as his own children.

In January of 1990 he began work in an automotive shop in Amarillo, and then in June of 1991 began work at Midway Chevrolet. Later on, at Midway, he was given his famous nickname of “Todd Norman, Shop Foreman” after being promoted to foreman at work.  He was known for his great mechanic skills, and many mechanics relied on him from other automotive shops to diagnose car problems for them just by simply listening to the car over the phone and people from Amarillo came to Midway specifically to have Todd work on their cars. Todd mentored many young mechanics while at Midway and made many life-long friends and racing buddies. In 2004, Todd left Midway for Pantex, and even though he left the automotive business, his love for cars and auto mechanics never left. He continued to pick up side jobs and helped those who were unable to afford a traditional shop. His passion for cars continued with race track families and he spent a lot of his free time tuning up the race cars and working in the pits during the racing season.

His children will cherish all of the wonderful memories they shared with him including riding around on his dirt bike with him, sitting in his lap and controlling the steering wheel on the last block home, and riding their power wheels around the shop at Midway. He had a great sense of humor and loved to sing and dance in the car. On many occasions of listening to “Drive My Car” by The Beatles, he would use the dashboard as a piano and continued this quirky tradition every time the song came on. His children inherited their love of music from him and loved the jam sessions they had with him. He loved Christmas and watching the joy in his children’s faces as they opened their cool new toys. There was not a thing that he wouldn’t do for his kids. He worked hard to provide for them and spoil them anyway he could. He was immensely proud of them and would always brag about them to anyone that would listen.

Anyone who knew Todd, knew he had many loves and hobbies. He enjoyed playing with remote control helicopters and cars. There were many times he angered his poor wife and daughters by getting the helicopter wings stuck in their hair. He built model cars and always dreamed of having a model train room that had a train track wrap all the way around the room. He enjoyed playing racing games and watching NASCAR. His all-time favorite driver was The Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt. Todd was a winner of the 1997 “Quality Repair Challenge VI” which he was awarded the opportunity to go and watch the 1998 Daytona 500, where he got to see “The Intimidator” win his one and only Daytona 500. He loved collecting memorabilia of his and displaying it for everyone to see.

Todd was preceded in death by his Mother and Father, Ronnie and Glennda Norman. He is survived by his wife, Angel Norman, son, Mitch, and daughter Ashley all of Amarillo, Tx, and Daughter Julie Autry and husband David of Lubbock, Tx. His sister Tammy Rice, and niece Delaynah of Amarillo, TX, And nephew Todd Alexander of Dallas, Tx.