06/16/2013
Norma Jeanne (Emerson) Cummings, 87, daughter of O.O. and Anna Emerson was born December 3, 1925, in the family home near Knoxville, Iowa. She passed away on June 16, 2013, at Pleasant Care Living Center in Pleasantville, Iowa.
Norma spent her entire life in Marion County, attending Knoxville schools and graduating from Knoxville High School in 1944. After graduation, Norma took classes at Simpson College and became a rural school teacher. She taught for a number of years in the country schools, including McMillen. She enjoyed this time and had many fond memories of her former students.
On June 27, 1948, she was united in marriage to Eugene Cummings at the First United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Iowa. Upon marriage, Gene and Norma Jeanne moved to the family farm. They were blessed with two daughters, Linda and Cinda. They farmed for many years, raising crops and livestock. They shared a love of border collies, always having at least one to help with chores. They were married for sixty-four years.
Norma enjoyed being a homemaker. She was an excellent cook and seamstress. Her main focus was her family. She was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother. She blessed each of her grandchildren with special memories.
Norma was a lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church and the Mary Circle of her church. A lover of flowers, she was a member of the Liberty Garden Club for many years.
Survivors include her husband, Eugene, daughters, and sons-in-law Linda and Bob Pitt of Bondurant and Cinda and Don Synhorst of Knoxville. Her five grandchildren include Shawna (Michael) Johansen of Bondurant, Ryan (Courtney) Pitt of Norborne, MO, Codi (Mark) Prachar of Knoxville, Megan (Mark) Mangum of Beaverdale, and Tanner Synhorst of Knoxville.
She was also a proud great-grandma of Liam Johansen, Brock & Kaston Pitt, Bale & Vada Prachar, and Jude Mangum. Norma was preceded in death by her four siblings, Helen Overton, Maxine Whitlatch, John Emerson, and Eula Hodgson, as well as her parents.