By Alexander Dworkowitz
On Saturday, the Rev. Charles Norris and Ruby, his wife of 52 years, got married again.
In a ceremony complete with a flower girl and the giving of the rings, the pastor of Jamaica’s Bethesda Missionary Baptist Church and his wife walked down the aisle and renewed their vows in front of a congregation of more than 100.
The wedding was conducted by the couple’s 47-year-old son, Charles L. Norris, Jr., minister of the St. John the Baptist Church in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan.
Nettie Barnes was the matron of honor and Natalie Webson the flower girl. Their two grandchildren, Jason and Charles Norris III, and Harry Collins, Jr. marched down the aisle as groomsmen.
After the couple reaffirmed their vows and received their original wedding rings, Norris, Jr. proclaimed to the church that “it gives me great honor to announce and pronounce that they are husband and wife … again.”
“Kiss! Kiss!” shouted one member of the audience.
After the ceremony an array of politicians came to see Norris, who has been a powerful political force in southeast Queens since he became Bethesda’s minister in 1973. Among the attendees were city Comptroller William Thomson, state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), state Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-St. Albans), Assemblywoman Vivian Cook (D-South Ozone Park), and Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans). Close to 200 people visited the couple over the course of the reception.
Now in their 70s, Charles and Ruby Norris beamed as if they were newlyweds. Charles Norris said he and his wife had been childhood sweethearts, having met in elementary school.
“I chased her until she caught me,” said the minister.
Norris often carried Ruby’s books to and from their school in Inwood and he asked her out to several dances while they attended high school together in the early 1940s.
During the ceremony, Ruby Norris took time to explain her choice of lilies, which represent the resurrection of Christ in Christianity, as flowers for the wedding.
“I selected the Easter lily as a reminder that marriage needs constant revitalizing,” the former nurse said. “It requires nurturing, protection at all times.”
Afterwards the minister took the time to greet every one of the nearly 200 people who came to the reception, many of them old friends.
Among those who Norris greeted affectionately was Christina Reeves.
“How good-hearted they are,” Reeves said of the couple.
Reeves said the Norris family took her into their home in Far Rockaway in 1960, when Reeves, whose parents had died, was 16. She lived with them and viewed the couple as her parents.
“They treated me as their daughter,” Reeves said. “They guided me, advised me.”
Reeves said Charles and Ruby Norris were careful to teach her certain lessons, in particular to have respect for one’s elders.
The couple’s son, Norris Jr., came with his two sons, Jason and Charles III, both of whom walked in the wedding procession. Norris Jr. expressed pride in his parents.
“I’m just overwhelmed that in this age people are married 52 years,” he said.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
