Norman T. Lopes, Jr., 70, of Dartmouth died unexpectedly April 8, 2013, at St. Luke's Hospital. He had fought a long and courageous battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).
He was the beloved husband of Geraldine Perry-Lopes.
Born in Acushnet, the son of the late Norman T. and Lillian E. (Berube) Lopes, he lived in New Bedford before moving to Dartmouth in 1991.
Norm retired from Raytheon in 2003 following a 38 year career in electronics.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and later in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves for 18 years.
Norm was an active member of Grace Episcopal Church where he had served as junior warden.
He loved dancing and music, especially jazz, and took pride in his sons’ careers as professional musicians.
Baseball was his game and he was a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan who stuck with his team through both good and bad times. He was a movie buff with eclectic taste...as long as there was lots of action.
Norm enjoyed people and when you went anywhere with him it was evident that many people enjoyed Norm. He had a hearty laugh that was ofteninfectious to those around him. He was interested in everything and knew how to do most anything, especially if it was about food.
Most of all Norm enjoyed friends and family and was a very special “Pops” to all his grandchildren.
Survivors include his wife Gerry; his sons Bryan Lopes and his wife Carolyn of Marietta, GA and Christopher Lopes and his wife Nina of San Francisco, CA; his step-son, Mark Surprenant and his wife Debra of Marion; his step-daughter, Jennifer Tavares of Dartmouth; his brother, Russell Lopes and his wife Marcelle of New Bedford; his aunt, Lucille Dupont of New Bedford; and his five grandchildren; Jessica Lopes, Eric Lopes, Matthew Tavares, Nicolas Surprenant and Lauren Surprenant; and his nephew Marc Lopes.
He was the brother of the late Alan Lopes.
His Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, April 13th at 10 AM in Grace Episcopal Church, New Bedford. Burial will follow in South Dartmouth Cemetery. Visiting hours will be held on Friday, April 12th from 4-8 PM in the Saunders-Dwyer Home For Funerals, 495 Park St. New Bedford.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Massachusetts General Hospital ALS Clinical Research Fund, c/o Massachusetts General Hospital, Dept. of Neurology, 55 Fruit St., Boston, MA 02114 or the ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter, 315 Norwood Park South, 1st floor, Norwood, MA 02062.