Norma was an amazing and a true lady, she loved people, and was an inspiration to all her friends, she loved life. I love you Norma and will miss you at the YMCA. you friend Daphne . RIP my sweet Norma XXXOOO
Jonathan Melissa and family. My deepest condolences. Hugs to everyone Thinking if you at this time
Such sad news. As a dear friend of Jonathan’s I remember great chats with Mrs Hurst in the kitchen and any where we’d happen to meet up. She was a wonderful woman with great compassion and an endless capacity for listening. I will fondly remember her smile and the interest she took in us - her Jono’s friends.
My condolences Jon, Melissa and family.
Irene Norma Hirst passed away on Thursday, December 13th after a brave battle with pancreatic cancer over the past few months. Norma was a sweet, bright, and lovely lady – and a steadfast presence at Cinechats for most of its fourteen year long existence. Quick to smile, always ready to share a laugh, and never without a wonderful twinkle in her eyes, Norma was my friend, even though our contact was mostly confined to encounters at our weekly film screenings and at the library’s biannual book-sales. Mere hours before her passing, Norma sent me an email commenting on some colloquial expressions I came across in books by Harry Leslie Smith, a Canadian writer from the north of England (which Norma, too, had once called home). A seasoned traveler, who was ever-curious about the wide world, Norma wryly remarked that although she knew the terms, they had rarely passed her lips – being vernacular expressions, rather than the Queen’s own English which Norma spoke so well. Nevertheless, I’ll employ one of those words now, to say how “chuffed” [sublimely pleased and proud] I am to have known Norma and to have been her friend.
John Arkelian
Cinechats Film Program
Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2018
Norma you will be greatly missed.