Dr. Norman M. Carson

Dr. Norman M. Carson, age 95, died Tuesday, April 6, 2021, at his apartment at the Reformed Presbyterian Home of complications from congestive heart failure.

Norman met his wife, Beverly Hanson, in Boston, MA. at a friend’s wedding. They were married on June 12, 1953. Beverly has been by his side for 68 years.

Dr. Carson was born April 20, 1925, in Denver, CO, and adopted shortly thereafter by Rev. Charles T. and May (Finley) Carson.

His early schooling took place in Sterling, KS, and he graduated from Beaver Falls High School in 1943.

In 1944-45, he served in the medical corps of the U.S. Army and in India as a cryptographer with the Office of Strategic Services. He graduated from Geneva College in 1947 and in 1949 received a Master of Arts in English from the University of lowa.

He graduated from the Reformed Presbyterian Seminary in Pittsburgh in 1952, serving as pastor of the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Chicago, IL, from 1952 to 1955.

He taught in the Department of English at Geneva College from 1957-1991, earning his Ph.D. in English Literature from Boston University in 1961. He was granted a leave of absence in 1968 and pastored the Dublin Road Reformed Presbyterian Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was Chairman of the Department of English from 1969 to 1981. He was a member of the national Conference on Christianity and Literature, and was its national president in 1972. For many years, he was an elder in the College Hill Reformed Presbyterian Church. He was involved in community service, serving in the Meals on Wheels program.

Upon retirement he taught English Literature at Christ's College, Taipei, Taiwan, in 1991-1992. For several months in 1997 and 2007, he pastored the Trinity Christian Community Fellowship in Larnaca, Cyprus. He is the author of two books: Received in Grace and Precious Son.

In 1987, he discovered his birth parents, the late Samuel and Elizabeth Wells of Las Vegas, NM, and their surviving family, Parker Wells and wife, Floraida, of Ohkay Owingeh, NM; Samuel Wells and wife, Dixie, of Miami, OK; and Jeanne (Wells) Keating, with whom he established a rewarding relationship over many years.

Dr. Carson was preceded in death by a son, Mark, and by a sister, Jeanne (Wells) Keating and brother Samuel Wells. He is survived by a daughter, Rebecca Carson of Boulder, CO; a daughter, Bonnie Irvin and husband, Richard, of Wapwallopen; a son, David Carson and wife, Andriani, of Durham, NC; and by eight grandchildren: Blake, Lauren, Erik, Brendyn, Cameron, Caleb and Elise Irvin and Christopher George Carson.

Friends will be received Saturday, April 17th from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the College Hill Reformed Church, 3217 College Avenue, Beaver Falls, PA.  A service will follow at

11 a.m. in the church with Titus Martin officiating.  

Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 862 will conduct military honors at the church.

A private interment will follow at the Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery in New Galilee.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts came made to Geneva College.

Arrangements by Hill & Kunselman Funeral Home; www.hillandkunselman.com, 3801 4th Avenue, Beaver Falls, PA. 15010