Naomi Margaret (Vye) DOWNS PLATH

PLATH, VYE, TRENT, NELSON, DOWNS, TROSTEM, STEENBLOCK, GABRIELSON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/29/2006 at 23:47:04

March 2, 2005
©Belmond Independent 2005

Naomi Margaret Plath, 89, died on Tuesday, February 22, 2005, at the Belmond Health Care Center. Funeral services were held on Friday, February 25, at the St. John Lutheran Church in Belmond, with Pastor Lowell Halvorson officiating. Burial was in the Union Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Naomi, the daughter of Harry and Sara Trent Vye, was born on August 28, 1915 in Glendive, Montana. As a young child she moved to St. Paul where she was raised by her Aunt Bertha and Uncle Godfrey Nelson. She graduated from the Johnson High School in St. Paul. Naomi was married to Grover Downs for 19 years, and they had four children. The family relocated to Belmond in 1947 where they owned and operated Downs Texaco Cafe and Service until 1953. Naomi bought the business back in 1957 and ran it until 1966, when the Belmond tornado destroyed the operation. On November 5, 1967 Naomi married Delbert Plath and gained daughter, Kathy. They lived in St. Paul, Clarion and Kiester, Minnesota. Delbert died in 1998 and Naomi moved to the Belmond Health Care Center. Naomi loved family gatherings and seeing her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She enjoyed playing cards (usually winning), going to the cabin at Pelican Lake, and eating Hershey candy bars (without sharing).

She was preceded in death by her parents; aunt and uncle Nelson; husbands, Grover and Delbert; and son, Tim. Naomi is survived by daughters, Anita (Howard) Trostem of Kiester and Margaret (Jerry) Steenblock of Klemme; son, Tom (Mary) Downs of Franklin, Tennessee; step-daughter, Kathy (Neil) Gabrielson of Britt; fifteen grandchildren; nineteen great-grandchildren; and sister-in-law, LaVonne Vye of Las Vegas.