Norine Elizabeth Zortman Mahlburg 1917 - 2014

ZORTMAN, MAHLBURG

Posted By: Connie J Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 9/13/2014 at 04:29:19

Onawa Democrat
10 September 2014

Norine Elizabeth Zortman Mahlburg, 97, a lifelong registered nurse and an active participant in many Rockford community groups, died July 22, 2014 at Swedish American Hospital in Rockford.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Milton Mahlburg, the founder and longtime director of the Burpee Museum of Natural History.

Norine was born in Iowa in 1917 and moved to Rockford in 1945 after volunteering as a nurse to fight the polio epidemic. For her work, she was proudly awarded the American Red Cross Disaster Nursing pin. She worked as a nurse at Swedish American Hospital, retired from Singer Mental Health Center, and also did private duty nursing.

She had a lifelong passion for learning and reading, and was active in book discussion groups and taught children's book groups and adult education classes on everything from Charles Lindbergh to Asian hand fans. She authored a family history book called the Larson-Fors History. She followed current events closely and enjoyed visiting with friends, gardening, and eating out. Late in life, she returned to college and obtained an advanced nursing degree from St. Francis College of Nursing in Joliet in 1975.

She was an active member of bridge groups, the Swedish Historical Society, the Rockford Women's Club, the DAR, the Rockford Bird Club, and the Rock River Gem & Mineral Society. She attended the Unitarian Universalist Church and St. Peter’s Cathedral.

The family prefers, in lieu of flowers, that memorials be made to a group that she belonged to that you feel would honor her memory.

She was born to Erve and Florence (Larson) Zortman near the small western Iowa town of Onawa, where she grew up on a family farm and attended a one-room school. She graduated from Onawa High School at 15. When she was 12, she learned to drive a Model T to travel to school over gravel, muddy, and snow-covered roads. She later graduated from St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing in Sioux City, Iowa.

Norine is survived by one brother, Gene Zortman, of Onawa, Ia., and predeceased by brothers Howard and Keith Zortman.

She is survived by four children, Suzanne Mahlburg Kay (Robert) of Ithaca, NY, William Mahlburg (Becky) of The Villages, Fla., Marie Sorensen (Dick) of Minneapolis, Minn., and Robert Mahlburg (Jill) of Sarasota, Fla.

She is survived by eight grandchildren, Jennifer Kay of Boulder, Colo, Alex Kay of Bothell, Wash, Karl Mahlburg of New Orleans, La., Derek Mahlburg of Charlottesville, Va., Paula Mahlburg of Denver, Colo., Leah and Peter Sorensen of Minneapolis, Minn., and Nicholas Welander Mahlburg of Dallas, Tex.

She is survived by one great grandchild, Harper Mahlburg, of Charlottesville, Va.

Funeral service will be at 2:30 p.m. Sat. July 26, 2014, in Olson Funeral Home, North Main Chapel, 2811 N. Main St. Rockford. Burial in Greenwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. prior to the service in the chapel.