Rain Adair Israel Norris Obituary
May 25, 2001 – August 30, 2026
Rain Adair Israel Norris, 25, of Lansing, Michigan, left this earth on August 30, 2026. He was born in Lansing on May 25, 2001, and grew up in Grand Ledge, Michigan with his sister and first best friend, Raven and big sister Daniella. He made a hundred more best friends along the way, including the love of his life, Madi Moore. They were creating their own family in the home they bought together in 2021. His daughter, Maeva Daniella Norris, is due to be born this November.
Rain walked into a room and the room got easier. He had a smile that put people at ease before he’d said a word, and once he did say something, it was usually funny, usually smart, and usually a little more honest than people expected. Rain liked to draw caricatures of the people around him, and they were exactly as over-the-top and inappropriate as they were hilarious. If you knew Rain long enough, there’s a decent chance he drew you once, and it probably wasn’t flattering, and you probably loved it anyway. He was the kind of person people described as “insanely good” at things, no matter what it was.
He grew up on a skateboard, dreadlocks flying behind him, cruising all over Grand Ledge and Lansing. Rain was ten years old when he founded Yoor Mom Skateboards and became its CEO. A skateboard company and skate shop the family (and a lot of friends) ran together in Grand Ledge. He learned young and spent time throughout his life teaching other people to do the same: handing a kid their first board, walking a nervous 14-year-old through how to fall and get back up.
Rain believed skaters were mathematicians and artists, whether they called it that or not: working out lines, physics, and timing without ever thinking of it as math. And he believed skating is basically life: you land it or you learn from it. He learned he had a community of brothers and friends who loved him with their whole hearts. On Sept. 1, hundreds of people, not just skaters, came out to a vigil for him at Ranney Park. By the end of the night people were calling it Rainey Park instead, and Rainey it will always be.
Off the board, Rain built things that lasted. He worked as a welder and union construction worker for C.A. Hull, the largest Michigan-based bridge builder. Rain was a brother from Carpenters Local 1004, and his most recent projects included job sites in Battle Creek, Marshall, and Homer, Michigan. Rain was requested to travel to different sites daily due to his extraordinary skills. One coworker described his presence this way: “Rain was a one of a kind guy that I will never forget! If you were working with Rain, it was always a great day!” Another said, “I always had fun up in the basket with him and had mad respect for how he worked.”
Rain was a loving and caring fur dad to his two dogs, Bambi and Bo, and his two cats, Nappy and Pluto. The love, patience, and tenderness he showed toward them proved just how wonderful a father he would have been to his baby girl, Maeva. She was already so deeply loved by him, and there is no doubt he would have given her the same gentle, unconditional love he gave to every one of his fur babies.
Growing up and as an adult, Rain was daring and adventurous, and he loved adrenaline. He was doing backflips off the side of the couch at 3 years old and ollieing off a building at 10. He was Spiderman and the Red Power Ranger as a little guy, and as he grew, he was a protector of his friends and the underdog in the crowd. His love of Spiderman never waned. We believe it’s because he is Spiderman: he lived with relatable human struggles and extraordinary abilities, and he did it with love and laughter in his heart. He dared to do the hard things. Our friendly neighborhood hero.
Rain is survived by his partner, Madi Moore, and their daughter, Maeva Daniella Norris, due November 2026; his parents, Jerry and Shannon Norris; his sister, Raven Norris; Madi’s parents, Monika and Bruce Moore, and Jamie and Anna Moore; Madi’s siblings, Carlee and Mason Moore, Ayden and Addy Stallings, and Hunter and Kayda Moore; his grandmothers, Margot Norris and Joina Norris, and Dorothy Fowler and Gaye Ann Fowler; his uncle Tom Norris, aunt Vanessa, and cousins Courtney, Tommy, and Breslin; his aunt Marni Swanson, uncle Myke, and cousin Emma; his uncle Shain Fowler, aunt Pam, and cousin Lierin; his aunt Marci Lancour, uncle John, and cousins Emily and Sara; his aunt Dena Moffitt, uncle Brandon, and cousins Bailee and Evyn; his uncle Brent Wilcox, aunt Kim, and cousins Brett and Killian; his niece and nephews, Daniella’s children, Chris, Xander, Lilly, and Khloe Norris; and many more cousins and friends who were as close as family.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Daniella Pride (2017); his grandfather, Monty Norris (2025); and his grandfather, Robert “Bo” Fowler (2012).
His family will receive friends at the Estes-Leadley Greater Lansing Chapel, 325 W Washtenaw St, Lansing, MI from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 12, 2026. The funeral service will take place at the funeral home at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, September 13, 2026. To view the service live, follow this link: Livestream
Honorary Brothers, Marshall Kelly, Ezra Kelly, Carson Nye, Anthony Dear, Andrew Anderson, Eli Kress, Wylie Wegner, Logan Ashley, Santiago Fashbaugh, Joe Davis and Mason Moore
After the service, Rain’s skate family and anyone else who wants to join are invited to gather at the Michigan State Capitol and skate to the skatepark together, no set time, just after the service, the way he and his homies did in Detroit at Wild in the Streets.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Fledge Foundation in memory of Rain Norris. Gifts given in his name will go toward providing for Madi and Maeva, his sweet family, or to a fund that puts skateboards and other skate gear in the hands of new and young skaters, something he was known for doing. If you have a preference for where your gift goes, please indicate it with your donation.
In Their Words
The messages that came in from the people who knew Rain say more than any single paragraph could:
“Rain was one of a kind. A truly genuine, awesome human being. Just seeing him and saying hi, for some reason, was enough to brighten your day. His joy was infectious.”
“He was such a cool kid that marched to the beat of his own drum. I’ll always remember him on his skateboard cruising all over GL with his long dread locks flowing behind him. He always seemed so happy, with a beautiful free soul shining through.”
“He gave me my first skateboard and included me to hang out with them.”
“I remember Rain teaching me how to skate when we were 14. He taught me how to get back up after falling.”
“I even named my son Reign because I thought it was so unique. He’ll be 7 in a couple weeks.”
“The most solid dude. Always with a smile and a hug every time I would run into him.”
“The last time I saw Rain, he said, ‘Hi, it’s good to see you.’ A simple, yet heartfelt greeting, given at a hard time, that I appreciated more than he could ever know.”
“It was a privilege to grow up beside Rain and see how his brain processed and expressed itself differently than anyone I’ve ever met. An extraordinary brain, and the funniest person I’ve met in this life, easily.”
“He fit in our family perfectly. We will always live with a piece of him.”
“He was a hell of a guy/friend and I’m blessed to get to know him.”
“Rain will forever be in our hearts and lives. I will never forget how he brought life to everything and everyone
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