WILMINGTON — Barbara A. Norris passed away in Wilmington, N.C. on February 1, 2026. She was born Edith Barbara Kinzel Adams on June 27, 1932.
She was the younger daughter of William J. and Elizabeth Adams of Murphy, North Carolina. Her father was a pharmacist, and one uncle and both grandfathers were doctors. Even as a child growing up in Murphy, she was interested in medicine and chemistry. After graduation from Murphy High School, she studied pharmacy and graduated from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy in 1955.
On November 13, 1955, Barbara married Charles Allen Norris of Fuquay Springs, North Carolina, a fellow UNC-Chapel Hill pharmacy school graduate. They made their home in Charlotte, where their two sons were born. Barbara worked as a pharmacist in Charlotte, and in Mount Olive, for many years.
She enjoyed sharing stories of her years growing up in Murphy, surrounded by her family, and also had fond memories of her student years at Chapel Hill.
According to family tradition, on the June day that she was born, snow fell on the mountaintops around her birthplace. When she passed away, southeastern North Carolina was in the midst of a historic snowstorm.
Barbara was predeceased by her beloved sister, Diane Elizabeth Adams Moore. Her husband Charles passed away in 1995. Barbara is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law David Allen Norris and Carol Busam Norris of Wilmington N.C., and Jay Morgan Norris and Sonya Ray Norris of Whitsett, N.C.
A private family memorial service is being planned at a future date.
