Funeral Services for Chief Warrant Officer 3 (Retired) Norman Brantley, age 92, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 26, 2022, at Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel with Brother Paul Rohde officiating.

Burial with full military honors will follow at Post Cemetery, Fort Sill, Oklahoma

The family will greet friends from 5:30 – 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at the funeral home.

The service may be viewed by following the live stream link at www.beckerfuneral.com or by visiting the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Facebook page.

CW3 (Retired) Norman Brantley was born February 4, 1930, in Zolfo Springs, Florida, the 3 ^rd of 4 children born to Edison and Bertha (Nix) Brantley.  He passed away in Yuma, Arizona on May 4, 2022.  He was preceded in death by his wife Tomoko, his parents, his three siblings Harris, Haynes, and Dutchy, and his daughter-in-law Vicki Brantley. His legacy lives on through his 5 children:  LTC (Ret) Charles Kazuo Brantley, Orlando, FL; Carolyn Miyako Creel (Gene), Plant City, FL; Norman Nobuo Brantley, Lawton, OK; LTC (Ret) Charlotte Michiko Stevenson (Alan), Lawton, OK; Vivian Tomoko Brantley-Stokes, Yuma, AZ; nine grand-children, and Twenty great-grandchildren.  He was a former member and Deacon of Westwood Baptist Church, Lawton, OK, and later a member of Strong Nation Church, Yuma, AZ.

He graduated from Hardee County High School.  He joined the United States Army on January 2, 1949, attended Basic Combat Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Advanced Individual Training (Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic School) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Norman's first duty assignment was Car Company Motor Batallion in the center of Tokyo, General Douglas MacArthur's Headquarters (GHQ).  He was there for 4 years as a Mechanic, Squad leader and General's Relief Driver.  From there, he returned to Fort Sill (1952) to await separation, ie. discharge.  He decided to re-enlist in the Transportation Corps, hoping for Harborcraft School (and return to Japan).  Instead, he was sent to the 3582 ^nd Transportation Truck Co.  Not giving up, he asked for and was selected to attend Language School in Monterey, CA.  He was assigned to the Korean Language Branch, although Japanese was his first choice.  After Language School, he was assigned as a Korean Interrogator with the 528 ^th Military Intelligence Co. in Uijong-bu for a year, then as an Admin Clerk in the G2 section at I Corps Headquarters.  In 1955, he was assigned to the Yokohama Engineer Depot.  Next, he returned to Fort Sill for a 1-yr school to become a Corporal Missile Fire Control Maintenance Officer at the Artillery and Missile School.  Upon completion, he was assigned to Fort Bliss to Corporal Missile Fire/Testing and Training.  A year later, he was sent to Babenhausen, Germany with 1 ^st Bn, 38 ^th Arty under the 36 ^th FA Group.  The unit was overstrength in his grade and MOS so they moved him over to the Babenhausen Rod and Gun Club to work for the Darmstadt Post Commander.  By the time he left Babenhausen in 1962, he was in charge of 5 different rod and gun clubs.  He returned to the Field Artillery and Missile School at Fort Sill but was assigned to work with the Pershing Missile System in Missile Maintenance.  Around this time, he was promoted to Warrant Officer.  In 1968, he transferred to Schwabisch Gmuend, Germany and was assigned to C Bty, 4 ^th Bn, 41st Artillery under the 56 ^th Artillery (Arty) Group.  He was moved up to 56 ^th Arty Group and assigned to PERFECT TEAM which evaluated all Pershing Bns in the group, to include missile firing.  In 1972 he returned stateside and was assigned to the 5 ^th Missile Training Bn.  Norman chose retirement over another 3-year accompanied or an 18-month unaccompanied tour in Germany.  One of his last acts while on active duty was to pin 1LT rank on his son Charles.  He retired 1 August 1976 at the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3 after over 27 years of service.

His awards and decorations included the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with First Oak Leaf Cluster, Good Conduct Medal with Fourth Award, Army of Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal with First Oak Leaf Cluster, Korean Service Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal.  He earned the Expert Qualification Badge-Pistol 0.45 Caliber.

Norman met Tomoko Asano during his first duty assignment.  After a hassle with the Army and with his dad (his own words), they were married February 8, 1951.  They had both American and Japanese traditional wedding ceremonies.  He maintained life-long loving relationships with family in Japan.  He loved the Japanese people and culture and encouraged his children and his children's' children to take pride in their Japanese heritage.  He travelled to Japan as often as he could and always tried to share the experience with his kids and grandkids as travelling companions.

After retirement from the Army, Norman went to work at Gibson's Discount Center in the Sporting Goods Section.  Not long after, he was one of Goodyear's initial hires at the new Lawton plant as evidenced by his badge number (#134).  Badges 1-99 were given to corporate employees; Lawton hires started with #100.  He enjoyed having his son Norman (# 308) just a speeding golf cart's distance away.  He was initially hired as a maintenance technician.  He was a Zone Manager when he retired from Goodyear.

Norman was fearless and enjoyed going and doing.  His first trip after retirement from Goodyear was to visit is daughter Charlotte stationed in Hawaii.  After another visit to Charlotte in Kansas, he bought a 29ft Class A motorhome.  He made multiple solo cross-country trips to visit kids and grandchildren.  Around 1995, he started spending his summers in Oklahoma and wintering in Yuma, Arizona.  Then, starting around 2016, he remained in Yuma year-round with his daughter Vivian.  He had many hobbies and interests.  He loved old cars, tractors, and old tools.  He liked riding his Harley Davidson when the weather was good.  He made 2 tandem sky-dives in his sixties.  He took up rock-hounding in the desert with his Willy Jeep, then cut, tumbled and shared what he found.  He started woodcarving in early 2000 and produced progressively more complex carvings over the years.  He also crafted beautiful writing pens using different types of wood.  He loved making things grown and enjoyed gardening and eating okra off the plant.

Norman was always actively involved in his children's lives.  He taught them at a very young age the importance of spending time together as a family, and to enjoy and respect nature and the outdoors.  He and Tomoko proudly supported their children.  Both sons earned their Order of the Arrow and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout ('66 and '68 respectively).  The family spent many weekends at Fort Cobb camping, fishing, water-skiing, swimming, supervised play on an enormous tractor tire, and even frog-gigging and running jug-lines.  These trips were not over until the boat was washed and waxed, gear cleaned and properly stowed, and camping supplies restocked.  Later, Norman and Tomoko attended countless at-home and away baseball, softball, football, and basketball (high school and college intramural) games, Junior ROTC and ROTC Drill meets.  The cycle started over again with the grandkids.  In fact, Norman was once ejected from a wrestling tournament when he stepped in to contest a controversial call.  He didn't get "Stormin' Norman" as a nickname for nothing!

We are honored to know that he enriched the lives of many, earning their love, respect, and admiration, serving as an example of how to live a life that brings glory to God.  Though we mourn our loss, we believe that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.