Some say that when a cardinal appears after the loss of a loved one, it’s a sign of their continued presence, offering comfort from beyond. Norton Latourelle knows this well. For years, the Vermont-based folk artist has carved wooden cardinals and sold them at his namesake gallery, Norton's Gallery of Woodcarvings, in Shoreham, VT.

Housed in a barn, the gallery was part of the home Norton and his wife, Marlene, built in the '90s near Lake Champlain. "Best views of the lake in the whole state,” he says. While Norton created the signature wood carvings for which he was known, Marlene ran the business. “She designed the website, took all the photos, handled the accounting and communicated with everyone while tending the gardens and making the place look good for visitors,” he says.

Marlene put it all together so that all I had to do was create art.

In 2024, Marlene was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer for which there is no cure. Facing a long road of arduous treatments, they closed the gallery and made frequent trips to University of Vermont Cancer Center in Burlington. After a courageous battle, Marlene passed away on March 12, 2025, and for the first time in thirty-five years, Norton found himself on his own. The days that followed were unfamiliar and heavy; grief had upended the rhythms of a life once shared. He stopped creating art. “I was going through a terrible time, and I thought, what can I possibly do?” he says. “And then I remembered: for years, we’d made thousands of cardinals to honor people's loved ones. It just seemed a natural extension of what I already knew.”

Norton started carving again. He carved cardinals on nights when he couldn’t sleep and during the day to keep focused. “Making cardinals gave me a process for thinking about Marlene, and it kept me sane,” Norton says. He developed a plan: sell the cardinals and donate the proceeds to UVM Cancer Center. The more cardinals Norton carved, the more money he could give to people whose suffering he understood.

Soon Norton had a team of about 10 people helping him paint cardinals: a local fireman, two friends from down the road, his sister-in-law and her daughter, and the mailman, who took cardinals home to sand and paint. A local sawmill committed to donating all the wood Norton would need.

He calls the project Marlene’s Cardinals. "A lot of people don't survive financially after fighting cancer, so this can help.” The cardinals sell for $100 each, and every penny goes to UVM Cancer Center to support glioblastoma patients, their families and caregivers, and the research and clinical trials needed to fight this disease.

The donation is important, but so, too, is the comfort Norton hopes each cardinal will bring to people who have lost a loved one. “Marlene would be proud.”

To date, Norton has raised over $30,000 for the cause.

To make a donation to receive one of Marlene’s cardinals or explore other pathways to advance our cancer mission, contact Lindsay Longe, Lindsay.Longe@uvmhealth.org, 802-598-3422 (mobile).