Norman Willis, a land developer and owner, established a subdivision in Homedale, Wainuiomata in the late 1950s – 1960s. This included Hine Road, Sunny Grove, and Willis Grove, with the latter bearing his name.
Norman was born in 1901 in Wellington. He bought a dental practice in Petone between 1925 and 1926, and became a qualified dentist in 1942. His career as a dentist and dental surgeon was successful, and after retiring in 1955, he pursued studies in hypnosis as applied to dentistry. This second career led him to earn a Doctorate and Fellowship. In the 1940s and 1950s, he also cultivated citrus and kiwifruit in Tauranga and took up Maori carving as a hobby. He joined the Petone Rotary on April 26, 1955, and served as its President during 1962-63.
He was married to Clarice Magrette Hall, and their children were born while the family resided in Petone. It was his daughter, Brenda Shirley Willis (1931–2014), who named Sunny Grove after wishing it was sunny the day she was shown the site. Norman passed away in 1977.
Special thanks to Jeremy Foster for some information in this article.
