Smith, Norma Arlene (1929-2016)

SMITH, JOHNSON, MOLINE, LONG, KNUEGER, ANDERSON, NORDLUND

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 2/6/2016 at 14:39:50

Norma Arlene Smith
August 28, 1929 - January 17, 2016

Norma Arlene Smith, age 86, of Storm Lake, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, January 17, 2016, at the Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake.

The second daughter of Arthur T. and Elva (Moline) Johnson, Norma Arlene was born on August 28, 1929, in Storm Lake, Iowa. Growing up on a small farm near Albert City, she had a wonderful life full of extended family members celebrating their 100% Swedish heritage.

Always one to nurture and care for others, Norma decided early on she would become a teacher. She attended Buena Vista College where she earned her teaching certificate in 1949. Well-liked by her classmates, she was crowned Homecoming Queen. She accepted her first teaching assignment in Marathon, Iowa, where she taught fourth grade.

A local famer named Paul Smith from Storm Lake set his eyes on Norma one night at the Cobblestone Ballroom and asked her to dance. That night started a courtship that led to their wedding on May 31, 1950. They started their married life on several acreages around Paul’s family farm before moving into their own house in 1954. With their three children, they filled this little house with love and four more children over the next ten years. This farm saw many celebrations after the arrival of “the playhouse.” Always a gracious hostess, Norma loved to fill the party house with her friends and family.

After Norma’s children were all attending school, she went back to teaching but in a different role. In 1969, in the basement of the Presbyterian Church, she started a program for several young adults. She began to teach them life skills including how to cook and how to clean the church. They made craft items that they sold at bazaars to raise money for the program. Soon the program outgrew the basement of the church and moved to West Milwaukee St. where the “Red Barn” began, eventually becoming Genesis Development. Even though she was no longer involved at this point, Norma continued her lifelong support for people with challenges.

Continuing her career outside the home, she worked at Gooch’s Best and Golden Sun feeds where she enjoyed providing the public with the highest level of customer service. Later, she would become a full time assistant in the Storm Lake High School working with special education students. Whenever she was called to substitute, the kids who would have normally given another substitute “the business” stayed in-line and gave her nothing but respect.

Politics played an important role of Norma’s life. A die-hard Democrat, she enjoyed discussing what was happening in the world and stayed up on current events by reading the Des Moines Register and Storm Lake Times thoroughly. If the mail didn’t come because of a holiday, she would make a trip to town to get that day’s newspaper. She, also, enjoyed thousands of hours of Public Television and was a “friend” for many years. She, especially, enjoyed Downton Abbey and will be watching the very last season in “high definition”.

Norma loved taking road trips. One of her earliest memories was of a cross-country trip to California to visit relatives. Then, in 1980, she took her parents and sister, Dorothy, to California to visit their extended family, retracing the route from forty years earlier. Moreover, she made other family road trips to Maine, Seattle, Alaska, and Washington, DC. Once, she spent an epic week fishing at Leach Lake, Minnesota. Closer to home, however, she enjoyed spending time at Okoboji and visited there many times. She found great pleasure in these trips, but she, also, liked hearing about all of her children’s and grandchildren’s lives. She valued her connection to her family.

Those left to cherish her memory include her husband, Paul D. Smith, of Storm Lake, Iowa; her children: Jonathon Smith, of Jefferson, Iowa, Paula (Ron) Long, of Sac City, Iowa, Phil (Jane) Smith, of Schleswig, Iowa, Lou (Don) Knueger, of Austin, Texas, Sarah (Fred) Selinger, of Urbandale, Iowa, and Rob (Michelle) Smith, of Storm Lake, Iowa; her son-in-law, Todd Anderson, of Sioux Rapids, Iowa; sixteen grandchildren; and sixteen great grandchildren; as well as cousins; nieces; nephews; extended family members; and friends.

Norma was preceded in death by her parents, Art and Elva Johnson; her parents-in-law, Albert and Mayme Smith; her sister and brother-in-law, Dorothy and Roland Nordlund; and her daughter, Kristine Anderson.

Funeral services will be held Friday, January 22, 2016, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Storm Lake. Burial will follow in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will take place Thursday, January 21, 2016, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. with a recitation of the rosary at 7:00 p.m., all at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Genesis Development. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements.

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