Norma Turnage is described as a driven woman with a passion for completing any task she takes on.

For her accomplishments, the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce named the longtime educator who is active in many state and local boards as the “Distinguished Citizen of the Year.”

“It was quite a surprise and quite an honor, and I feel very humbled by being selected,” she said Monday.

Starting in 1960, she began her career in education at the Winston-Salem school system, where she worked as a teacher for a year and a half. Then, she took a job as a teacher in Rocky Mount schools, where she worked another five years.

For the following eight years, she moved into school district administration for the city of Rocky Mount and Nash and Edgecombe county schools, serving as public information officer and Title III director. She has been a member of the N.C. State Board of Community Colleges for seven years and is chairwoman of the program committee.

She was appointed to several state boards and commissions by former Gov. Jim Hunt, including the N.C. State Board of Education, where she served for 10 years.

Turnage also is the chairwoman of the Nash Health Care Foundation Board, which raises money for the hospital and its programs.

Bob Skelton, vice president-chief development officer for Nash Health Care, said Turnage is well suited for the fundraising work and a “perfect choice” for the Chamber award.

“She is an extraordinary leader,” Skelton said Monday. “She is very focused. She is able to get a lot of things done in a very short period of time.”

With Turnage at the helm of a 30-minute meeting, Skelton said, a lot can be accomplished.

“You can start out with a basic idea and end up with a special plan, (outlining) who will do what and when,” he said. “With Norma, she’s very focused, so very well respected. When she speaks, people listen. And when she calls, people lend a hand.”

Turnage was chairwoman of the YWCA during its consolidation with the YMCA about five years ago.

Norman Chambliss III, who served on the YMCA board at the time, said Turnage was highly instrumental in the merger.

“We would not have that beautiful new YMCA (building) without the leadership and vision of Norma,” Chambliss said, referring to the Kate & Billy Harrison Family YMCA at 1000 Independence Drive.

Even though her husband, Fred, was Rocky Mount’s mayor for many years, few people refer to Norma Turnage as “the mayor’s wife,” Chambliss said. Fred Turnage was named the new chairman of the Chamber at its annual meeting last week.

Chambliss described her as a “skilled leader.”

“I have had the pleasure of working with her on many boards and committees and also working for her as a general contractor,” he said. “She always sets an agenda that focuses on the finish line, and she knows what steps she wants to take to get there.”

Chambliss added that Turnage is a “get it done” and “do it the right way” person.

“With Norman, failure is never an option,” he said. “She is fun to be around because she is always energized and positive.”

Chambliss said that Turnage has had a positive impact on the Rocky Mount community in numerous ways since arriving in the early 1960s.

“Norma taught many of us when we were in grammar school,” Chambliss said. “She taught me and several of my Rocky Mount friends in the sixth grade at Braswell Elementary School. She is an excellent educator and had a strong impact on her students. She expected you to work hard in school, and she demanded the same of herself.”

“She was Norma Turnage, and she had her own agenda, and she impacted her community in her own way,” Chambliss said. “In her role as an educator and in her church and in her community, she always was willing to take on the hard job.”

H. Martin Lancaster, the former president of the N.C. Community College System, also praised Turnage in a chamber video that was played at its annual meeting last week.

In it, he said that he got to know Turnage especially well when she served on the N.C. State Board of Community Colleges.

“As chairman of the program committee, your imprint is on many programs that have been started and on some that have been terminated under your leadership,” he said in the video.

Jody Wright, the pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church where Turnage worships, said he was impressed by her focus when she recently chaired a church committee that was responsible for acquiring a new church pipe organ.

“I was very impressed with the ways in which Norma was so insightful, thorough, and patient as she led us along that journey,” he said.