The Rev. Norman DuBois Nettleton, Jr. (1914-2013) grew up in Philadelphia and New Jersey as the eldest in a family of eight children. He suspended his high-school studies for a time to go to work to help his mother, who by then was a single parent. He later enrolled at The University of Tulsa as a religion major. Although a traffic accident early in his freshman year left him with permanent disabilities, he persevered, completing his bachelor’s degree in 1949 and a master’s degree in religion in 1953. He also earned a Master of Divinity at Vanderbilt University before entering the Presbyterian ministry.

Rev. Nettleton served pastorates in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Virginia (Charlottesville). Motivated by his own experience, he undertook advocacy work through the Presbyterians with Disabilities Concerns (PDC) program.

Later in life, Rev. Nettleton married Corinne Carr (1928-2010), whom he had known as a student at The University of Tulsa and who had come to Charlottesville as a clinical social worker at the University of Virginia Medical Center in 1968.

Corinne Carr (later Nettleton) completed a bachelor’s degree in sociology at TU in 1951 and a master’s degree at Boston University. She was a lifelong social worker and a staunch advocate for child welfare; she worked with the Virginia legislature to strengthen that state’s laws against child abuse.

Rev. Nettleton retired in Charlottesville in 1991. He and Corinne remained active in the Presbyterian Association of Retired Ministers, Their Spouses or Survivors.

In 1997, the couple generously established the Reverend Norman and Corinne Nettleton Scholarship. This need-based award supports undergraduate students in the Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences who are studying for careers in a church vocation or in the practice of social work.