These past two years have been challenging. Many friends and family have been lost. We have shared the loss of friends in the past, and donations have been made to the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range in honor of the passing of another friend.
Today we mourn the loss of our friend, Norman Sprinthall.
Norman and his wife Lois were early supporters of the stabilization and restoration of the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range. The effort began in 2011.
Norman’s father served in World War I and their large donation to the WWI memorial that was installed at the rifle range on the Centennial was in honor of his father, Sergeant Archie Sprinthall.
“My father joined the war effort in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and he would have wanted me to help save this rifle range located in our residential area in Caswell Beach.” ~ Norman
One of the missions of the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range is to research, publicize, and preserve the legacies of the men and women of Brunswick County who served in the World War. The birth of that mission was rooted in our initial World War I Wall of Honor.
The wall was created to honor the WWI veterans who were ancestors of the supporters of the rifle range. Norman’s father Sergeant Archie Sprinthall and his friends who lost their lives in WWI were the foundation of our Wall of Honor.
When the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range published Brunswick County in the Great War, Norman and Lois purchased several copies for the Caswell Dunes clubhouse library to help educate the community not only about WWI, but about the priceless historic structure, the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range, which was located in their own neighborhood.
“What is funny, well not really funny, is that I’ve been passing the rifle range so often since we purchased our condo back in 1985 and never thought to find out what it was or what it was used for. So now that we all know that it was used to train the military to perfect their marksmanship before leaving for France in World War I, why not put our heads together and make it a memorial for all residents in NC to honor, especially Caswell Beach? This historic structure tells us a story of our past going back 100 years ago.”
~ Norman
Norman and Lois were present at nearly all of the fundraisers, events, and Roll Calls, and continued to donate funds or finance anything they felt needed attention, such as No Trespassing signs as the work continued on the rifle range bunker. Photos were published in local newspapers to document their involvement in 2013, 2016 (1, 2, 3), and 2017.
Norman Sprinthall will forever be embedded in the fabric of the rifle range restoration story.
Norman passed away on March 8.
Please read Norman’s obituary to learn about the contributions he made to the communities outside of Caswell Dunes.
A memorial fund has been established at the request of Norman’s family.
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