11/12/2016
Normajean (Vogleman) Gerdes, age 81, was born on August 3, 1935, in Strong City, KS, the daughter of Philip and Doris (Brassfield) Vogelman.
She attended schools in Burns, KS (the first consolidated school in Kansas), Spirit Lake, IA, and graduated from high school in 1953 at Knoxville, IA.
After graduating from the American Institute of Business in Des Moines, IA, she was employed for two years as a legal stenographer at the State Capitol in the Office of the Iowa Attorney General’s Criminal Appellate Division, for five years as a stenographer in the Christian Education Department of the United Presbyterian Iowa Headquarters in Des Moines, and later as a legal stenographer for Manpower, Inc.
On February 14, 1957, she was united in marriage to Erwin W. Gerdes of Fulda, MN at Osceola, IA and in 1964 they moved from Des Moines to a farm near Fulda. After that time, she was employed for eleven years by the Worthington Daily Globe, then owned Siouxland Realty and Siouxland Abstract during the 80’s.
Later she pursued her long desire of owning and operating an antiques store. She operated “Remember When?” for 25 years in Worthington, retiring in 2006.
She and her husband traveled extensively throughout the 50 states during their marriage. After his death on May 20, 2008, she moved into a condo in Worthington.
In the fall of 2012, she moved to Ankeny, IA to be closer to her sister. She was a member of the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Ankeny, IA. Normajean died on Saturday, November 12, 2016, at the Taylor House Hospice in Des Moines, IA.
Normajean is survived by two sisters, Marlene (Emory) Goertz of Farmington, NM and Barbara (Pat) Allison of Ankeny, IA; three sisters and brothers-in-law, Harold and Diane Gerdes, Elden and Audry Gerdes, and Vernon and Carole Gerdes, all of rural Fulda; 15 nieces and nephews, and numerous grand and great-grand nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, a sister-in-law, her parents, and her in-laws.
Memorial services will be held on Friday, December 2, 2016 at 1:00 p.m., at the Benson Funeral Home in Worthington, MN. Burial will be in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, rural Fulda.
Visitation will be held on Friday, December 2, 2016, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Benson Funeral Home in Worthington.