November 25, 1942 – February 9, 2017
It is with sadness that we announce that Norma Ellen (Rowe) Hart left this life and moved into eternity on February 9, 2017.
She was born on November 25, 1942, to William and Mary (Kelly) Rowe in Angola, Indiana. She was the oldest of four girls with her sisters being Marcia, Linda, and Tracey.
As her family mourns her death, we want to remember most what brought her joy. When she reminisced on such things, she would speak of her childhood years living at Lake Pleasant, Ind., her early teen years living in Tyler, Texas, and her high school and college days at Marysville High School in Ohio (1961) and Bowling Green State University (1965) respectively.
She also enjoyed anything related to crafts and baking, musicals, watching the Indianapolis Colts football team and the Butler Bulldogs men’s basketball team. And, of course, she relished her time with family.
Moreover, if she was defined by any one key characteristic, it’s that she was a teacher to the core. From the time that the desire to be a teacher took hold of her at the age of twelve, she taught as a mother, as a school teacher in private and public schools for over twenty years, as a cake decorating instructor, and as a top sales person in a variety of retail industries of which she finally retired in 2010. If there was one subject she loved to teach most of all, it was poetry. Her sixth-grade students will never forget the passion at which she approached their annual project of writing a large notebook of poems on the five senses. Also, her children and grandchildren will carry with them the love of James Whitcomb Riley and hearing his poems read aloud with enthusiasm (especially The Bear Story!). Norma will be missed by her family that she loved very much, but we will all carry pieces of her for the rest of our lives.
She leaves behind three children, Heather Barnette (Bob), David Martin (Rebecca), Lindsay Wink (Phillip). Norma was also blessed with eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her father and mother, and her sister, Marcia.
She requested to be cremated, and a memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, 2017 at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens, 9700 Allisonville Road in Indianapolis, with Pastor David Martin officiating.
If you would like to do a kindness in memory of Norma, the family request a donation be made to the American Cancer Society, 5635 W 96th Street, Suite 100, Indianapolis, IN 46278; or the National Brain Tumor Society, 55 Chapel Street, Suite 200, Newton, MA 02458.
Condolences: www.randallroberts.com