Beth E. Norman

Beth Mather Norman lived a long happy life, born in April 29, 1921 in Madelia Minnesota, and died January 23, 2021 in Eagan at her daughter’s home, blessed on her final days by phone calls and visits from her seven children, 18 grandchildren, and 19 great grandchildren. 

A Memorial Service Celebrating Beth’s Life will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, June 12, 2021 at Cornerstone United Methodist Church, Lake Crystal. A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held after the service at the Jim and Judy Hepworth Farm, 52429 200th Street, Lake Crystal.  Family interment will be in Lake Crystal Cemetery.  Lake Crystal Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.  www.mankatomortuary.com

Beth graduated early from high school, then attended Mankato commercial college.  She worked as an assistant in Mankato, and upon hearing that she would be married soon her boss asked for her resignation. She wed John Norman from Lake Crystal, and when he joined the Marines in 1942, she joined her husband in California briefly. After the war, they started farming outside of Lake Crystal, moving to town in 1978 where John was elected mayor, and she served as the mayor’s wife. John died in 2007. She moved to Crystal Seasons in Lake Crystal in 2011 and moved to Eagan in 2020. Beth enjoyed knitting, gardening, crossword puzzles, and ancestry research. She attended First Methodist Church of Lake Crystal where she loved singing hymns very loudly. Her greatest joy in her life was her family, and she often said, “I must have done something right. My kids all like each other.”

Beth is survived by her children: John (Mary) Norman, Waconia, Tom Norman, Miami Beach, Florida, Joyce Norman (Charlie O’Connell) Eagan, Judy (Jim) Hepworth, Lake Crystal, Jim Norman, Mankato, Diane Norman (Michael Flaherty), McFarland, Wisconsin, Bob (Leatha) Norman, North Mankato; 18 grandchildren; 19 great grand-children; brother, Herb (Sue) Mather, Nashville ,Tennessee; brother-in-law, Bill Mensing, Pemberton; sister-in-law, Thelma Norman; many nieces, nephews, and friends.

Beth was preceded in death by her parents, Earl and Essie (Archerd) Mather; husband, John Norman; a grandson, Scott Norman; sister, Eleanor Gewecke; sisters-in-law, Lillian Mather, Joan Roth, Mary Mensing; brothers-in-law, Don Gewecke, Ralph Norman, and John Roth.