Once they leave, most people from small towns don’t return unless it’s for family visits, high school reunions or funerals.
Rarely do you find people willing to settle down in their home town after decades of absence.
Bob and Kathy (Butterfield) Norton are an exception. The former Oxford residents returned to their roots July 28 after a 24-year absence and brought their three children with them. Home is now the Lakes of Indianwood subdivision.
‘We’re happy to have our kids be able to experience the same area that we did,? said Bob, a 1980 graduate of Oxford High School who’s now assistant general counsel in the legal department at Chrysler LLC’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, where he’s worked for the past five years.
‘The area’s changed in the few years we’ve been gone, but a lot of it still looks the same. It still feels like home,? said Kathy, a 1981 OHS graduate with a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene from the University of Michigan.
Home is definitely where the heart is for the Nortons because it was on an Oxford school bus where a 15-year-old Bob first met a 14-year-old Kathy.
‘We’ve been dating since we were just teenagers,? Bob said. ‘I was a little more interested in her than she was in me. It took a while for her to warm up to me.?
In 1983, the couple got married and left Oxford thinking they would never live here again as their lives expanded in new directions, which included briefly living in England and settling in Ann Arbor for the last 17 years.
‘If you had told us a couple years ago we’d be moving back to the Oxford area, we’d have said, ‘No, no, no, that’s not the way our life’s going,? Bob said.
When the decision was made to move closer to Bob’s office, the couple originally considered moving to Rochester. But Oxford offered the ‘good balance? between ‘country side? and ‘modern conveniences? the Nortons were looking for.
‘It hasn’t lost that feeling of being a smaller town, yet it has all the comforts of the bigger city,? Bob said. ‘You don’t have to drive too far away from M-24 before you feel like you’re back in the country again.?
Oxford also offered the Nortons a feeling Rochester simply couldn’t
‘This is where it feels comfortable, feels like home to us,? Bob said.
Looking at their lives now, it’s hard to believe there was a time when Bob worked at his father’s Gulf Station at the corner of Drahner and M-24 (now Uncle Boomba’s).
‘I used to do the full service side of the gas island, check people’s oil and wash the windows,? Bob said.
Bob’s father, Robert Norton, Sr., owned the Gulf Gas Station from 1977-79. Prior to that, he owned Norton Tire and Service in Orion from about 1974-79.
There was also a time when Kathy worked selling tickets at Oxford’s movie theater back in the days when it had only two screens and every kid in town was coming to play Pac Man in the lobby.
She was amazed at how much the little movie house she remembers has grown. ‘You couldn’t even recognize it inside,? Kathy said. ‘It’s all different, really modern.?
Those days are long gone, but friendly ghosts still remain as the couple reacquaints themselves with the community, the places and the people they left behind 24 years ago.
‘It seems like it’s changed a lot when you drive down M-24, but it’s still kept that small town feel,? Bob said. ‘We’ve already reconnected, by accident, with several people who’ve stayed in the area.?
Kathy is glad the town was able to keep places she remembers, like Patterson Prescription Pharmacy and Tom’s Hardware, yet incorporate new things like Starbucks Coffee.
‘The town progressed, but it’s still got a lot of the same elements,? she said.
‘It’s nice to see some things never change,? Bob said.
For the Nortons, the biggest adjustment is getting used to the idea that two of their children will be attending Lake Orion schools because their home, while located in Oxford Township, is actually part of the neighboring school district.
Katie, 14, will starting Lake Orion High School as a freshman and Austin, 11, be entering the sixth grade at Oakview Middle School.
Their eldest son, Jon, 20, is a junior at Pepperdine University in California.
Back when the Nortons went to high school, Oxford and Lake Orion were ‘arch-rivals? in every sense of the word. It was always Wildcat versus Dragon, Blue-and-Gold against the Green-and-White.
As she and her daughter toured LOHS, Kathy admitted, ‘I felt like I was on enemy territory.?
Given that Kathy and Bob both earned degrees from U-M, Lake Orion’s colors (identical to Michigan State’s) don’t help the situation.
But the couple is coping.
‘We admit that it is a little odd, but we’re trying to be mature,? Bob said. ‘As long as our kids get a good education, we’ll be happy.?