06/16/2025
The City of Easley lost a TRUE pillar in the community over the weekend and Id like to share a memory that I have of Mr Norris. I think it was 2007, I had always dealt with Mr Don Jones (Jonesy). I was honestly terrified of Mr Norris 😂…one morning I got a call from Mr Norris and for those that knew him you can hear him saying this…he says “hey pal TOMMY NORRIS…..I need to SEE you and I’m gone go ahead and tell you…IT AINT GOOD” so I went straight up there and him, Don Wolf (i spoke with Mr Wolf this morning and verified the facts of this story😂), Mike Bishop and a couple others were out in front of the service drive at the first parking spot on the right as you pull in on the Capris side. Turns out one of my employees had cut a carpet in a Highlander. So he said “Mr BISHOP…tell him what happened PLEASE!” So Bishop starts telling me and it wasn’t fast enough for him so he says “UHHH I GOT IT FROM HERE, the gas
Pedal hung up and the lady hit her HOUSE with the car (she had just bought it used from the truck lot) her SON was in the car and NOW she’s SCARED of it and I gotta TRADE HER OUT OF IT now I wanna KNow…. What you gone do about it?” I said “Mr Norris, have Mr Wolf draw up the paper work , roll any negative equity over to whatever you put her in and I’ll buy the car and let my mother have it, I’ll make this problem go away because I PROMISE you my 1099 will be more than what this car cost!”….i don’t think I ever heard Mr Norris stutter but one time in 25+ years and that was it. He said “yall hear tha..HEY GUYS…did YALL HEAR THAT? In ALL MY YEARS in the car business I don’t recall EVER a vendor volunteer to BUY THE CAR that he messed up…. You and me are gonna do business for a LONG TIME MY FRIEND…all I wanted you to do was put a carpet in it!” And I can say I was his detail guy till the end. He had a way of making you SO MAD…and in 5 minutes it was over and two things happened as the result, you got over it and you learned something…and this is a COMPLIMENT to the man. Over the years I learned to not be terrified of him….i also learned that what it actually was was RESPECT. He came from pretty much nothing and he’d tell you that! So he deserved respect. And he got it from me. That’s why i NEVER referred to him as “Tommy”….he will ALWAYS be my buddy, and he will ALWAYS be Mr Norris. And i will miss him terribly.
