Ernest O. Norquist was born on 14 October 1919 in Ramsey County, Minnesota. He grew
up in St. Paul, Minnesota and attended college at the University of Minnesota. There
he earned a degree in History in 1941. In 1942, he joined the army to fight in World
War II, but was captured as a prisoner of war by the Japanese on 9 April 1942. He
survived both the Bataan death march and Japanese prison camps and returned home.
Soon after, he married Jeanette (née Nelson) Norquist on 19 January 1946 and moved
to New Jersey to attend the Princeton Theological Seminary. At this time, he and his
wife had their first child, John Olaf Norquist who would later become the 37th Mayor
of Milwaukee from 1988-2004. Norquist graduated from the seminary in 1949 and served
many churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Illinois. From 1967 to his death, Norquist
served as Pastor for the Bethany Presbyterian Church on West Mineral St. in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served many additional posts as well, such as Chairman of
the Christian Social Action Commission and Director of the Commission on Religion
and Race. During this time, he was also known for being a civil rights activist as
he marched in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Selma, Alabama. In his free time, he also
volunteered as a Boy Scout Troop leader and traveled across the country with his
family. Ernest O. Norquist passed away on 4 March 2004.
