HERMISTON -Former state representative Chuck Norris and his wife, Betty Lou, have decided they want to be full-time grandparents.

To do that, the Norris couple, both 77 years old, have put their Hermiston house up for sale and are planning to move to the Sunshine State.

“It’s just because of the grandchildren, nothing else,” Betty Lou Norris said.

“It’s not a done deal,” Chuck Norris said. “We’re working hard toward that, but it’s hard to pull up anchor and there are still many things to do.”

Norris said they plan to leave at the end of September, but the 90-day departure goal to get to Florida “may be too ambitious.”

“It depends on getting the house sold. We’re not going to leave ’til that happens,” he said.

For three decades, the family lived in their house on Highland Avenue. The couple now is sorting through 30 years of collectables in preparation for their move.

The Norris family has a prestigious history in Eastern Oregon. They moved from Washington, D.C., to Hermiston in 1969 when Chuck Norris became commander of the Umatilla Army Depot.

When he left that post two years later, the family settled in Hermiston.

Hermiston City Councilwoman Marie L. Baldo was disappointed to hear that Norris plans to move.

Baldo took over command of the Depot after Norris had long-retired from the Army. Baldo said Norris always treated her with respect and was “real good” to her.

“I remember when I took over command, he introduced himself to me, then he promised to never bother me again.” He kept that promise, Baldo said.

After retiring from the Army, Norris and his wife worked for 13 years as realtors for M&B Investment Company. Chuck served as president and vice president of numerous real estate and business organizations, his wife said.

Then came politics. From 1987 to 1997 Chuck Norris served five terms as a Republican state representative from Hermiston, making a name for himself and for Eastern Oregon. He pushed to have better representation for Oregon on power planning councils and water boards. He also was instrumental in putting together funding for the Oregon National Guard Armory. A meeting room at the Armory is dedicated to Norris.

Now, in the next chapter of their lives, Norris and his wife are planning to move to Royal Palm Beach, Fla., where their youngest son, Scott, lives with his wife, Kathie, and their two sons, Andrew Scott, 2, and 5-month-old Collin Reed.

The couple has to move to be near family, they said, because most of their children moved away from Hermiston. Their daughter, Pamela Ayres, lives in Moravian Falls, N.C., son Randall “Dal” Norris lives in Beaverton and son Mark lives in Tulsa, Okla.