Peter Andrew "Andy" Norowski, DMD's Obituary
Peter Andrew Norowski, ever known to family and friends as Andy, passed away Tuesday morning , June 21, 2022, at Nashville’s Vanderbilt Hospital, after a valiant fight with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He was surrounded by loving family and friends. He was 67 years old.
Andy graduated from S. Watkins Overton High School in 1973. He graduated with Honors from Vanderbilt University and Washington University School of Dental Medicine where he received his DMD along with Special Honors awards. He is a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon honorary dental society, as well as the American Dental Association and the Mississippi Dental Association.
After graduation, he moved to Ocean Springs, MS, and set up a dental practice in nearby Biloxi. Through the years, his dental career overflowed with multiple community service activities.
In 1986, he helped to charter the Edgewater Rotary Club, and was its first president. He was a Paul Harris Fellow + 8. That same year, with the help of his Rotary Club, he began the “Children’s Health Fair” of Biloxi, which he has sponsored every July for 26 years, serving over 400 children with various dental, hearing, spinal, optometric, and general pediatric screenings, as well as vaccines and free school supplies. This was his proudest accomplishment. He also provided Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, as well as dental services, to women and children at the local Women’s Center for Non-violence. Whether these causes, or the many free and drastically reduced-cost dental services, the canned food drives, and much support for all charities, he was known as a truly generous man.
Perhaps one of the favorite services he performed was for the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport. They had found an endangered Kemps Ridley sea turtle, which had been seriously injured by a boat propeller. Andy used dental bracing techniques and bonding chemicals to brace the shattered shell until it healed. Thus he became the local hero of marine biologists and animal lovers everywhere.
Andy was a member of Christos Victor Lutheran church in Ocean Springs. He was an avid fisherman and was never happier than when he was with his three boys in Florida, or fishing at his cabin in Heber Springs, AR. He was an accomplished classical guitarist, participating in several coast musical and theatrical productions. He also enjoyed gardening, painting , dogs (any kind), University of Memphis basketball and New Orleans Saints football.
Andy is preceded in death by his parents, Martha and Peter Norowski, and his brother-in-law, Ernie Harris. He is survived by his wife, Julie Ellis Norowski, three children, Dr. Drew Norowski (Rachal), Calvin Norowski, and Nathan Norowski (Kayla), granddaughters, Keira and Violet, his two devoted sisters, Stephanie Norowski Harris (Bill) and Katherine Norowski Harris, and many beloved nieces and nephews.
He will be sorely missed by the Reverends Morgan and Julian Gordy, who played a tremendous role in his care while living in Nashville where he received treatment for several years. Our family can hardly begin to express our gratitude for the Gordy’s selfless, loving attendance to Andy and Julie during their many stays at Vanderbilt Hospital.
For his devotion to his family and friends, his generosity for those who are suffering, his love of music and fishing, and his delightful sense of humor, Andy will be so missed.
The visitation will be held Saturday, July 2, 2022 at Memorial Park Funeral Home from 1 p.m. until the service time at 2 p.m. Interment will be in Memorial Park Cemetery.
The family requests any donations go to Vanderbilt University, Stem Cell Transplant Research and Clinic, or American Cancer Society
To view the memorial tribute video. Please click the link below.
https://www.tributeslides.com/tributes/show/3LTNXS83W2X23Y8N
What’s your fondest memory of Peter Andrew?
What’s a lesson you learned from Peter Andrew?
Share a story where Peter Andrew's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Peter Andrew you’ll never forget.
How did Peter Andrew make you smile?
