Norma Loretta Smith
Obituary
Longtime Kasilof resident Norma Loretta Smith died Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007, at the Heritage Place in Soldotna. She was 86.
Rosary will be held 4 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Peninsula Memorial Chapel, 5839 Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai. Father Andrew will officiate. A memorial Mass will be held at the 12:00 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 6, at Our Lady Of Perpetual Help Catholic Church 222 W. Redoubt Ave., Soldotna. A celebration of her life will follow at O'Neill Hall.
Mrs. Smith was born Oct. 9, 1921, to Bernard H. and Lucy Regina Osterman in Nashua, Iowa. Early in her life Norma drove a streetcar in Los Angeles and worked at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, Calif. She managed newspaper routes while her son delivered papers.
"She always worked where there was a lot of interaction with people, a snack bar in a market, Osmar's Cannery in Kasilof and the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline in Valdez. Norma moved to Alaska in 1974 and she was an avid fisherwoman and will always be remembered to many as their 'Alaskan Grandma.' She loved berry picking, bingo, quilting end was a master jelly maker. She loved designing and making ornaments with her daughter. Norma loved "St. Theresa the little flower." She also loved the Most Holy Rosary as she belonged in the Legion of Mary. Norma was the rock of our family and will be greatly missed. She will be remembered by her selfless examples, and persistent faith in God," her family said.
Mrs. Smith was preceded in death by her son, Thomas Charles Smith in 1979; parents; brother, Bernard Osterman; brother-in-law, Vincent Bloom; and husband, Terrence C. Smith.
She is survived by daughter Norma Daniels and her husband, John G.; granddaughters, Denali Daniels and Regina Davis and her husband, Scott Davis; grandsons, Jason Daniels and his wife, Angie, and Zachary Daniels and his wife, Yvonne, of Soldotna; great-grandchildren, Jasmine, Trenton, Cory, Carly, Jace, Jrew, Olivia, Kayden, Kennedy and lssaiah and Onaca; sister, Gertrude Bloom, of Nashua, Iowa; sister-in-law, Eileen Osterman of Redding, Calif.; nieces and nephews, Kay Link and her husband, John, of Mason Neck, Va., Beth Swyter and her husband, Roger, Barb George and her husband, Don of Nashua, Iowa, Dorothy and Robert Goetzinger of Hiawatha, Iowa, Nicholas and Pam Bloom of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Kenneth and Kay Bloom of Cedar Rapids, Richard and Nancy Bloom of Ackley, Iowa, James and Barbara Bloom of Albuquerque, N.M., Steve and Kathy Bloom of Indianapolis, Ind., Marlene and Harold Larson and Beverly Scott and family of Escondido, Calif., Patti La Porte and family of Virginia and Ron Osterman and family of Redding, Calif.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made in remembrance of Norma Smith to the retirement fund for priests and sisters through Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 222 W. Redoubt Ave. Soldotna, AK 99669.
Arrangements were by Peninsula Memorial Chapel.