- Date Of Birth: January 12, 1955
- Date Of Death: January 1, 2022
- State: Indiana
Mary JoAnne Norell, 66, Bristol, rang in the new year with joy, joining her Heavenly Father shortly before 11 a.m. on January 1, 2022. Though her death was sudden, she went peacefully, surrounded by the people she loved the most — her family.
Known by turns as Mary Jo, Mom, Mary, Mare, MJ, Josephine, Billy, Silly Goose, Phlap, Little Person, Peanut and LB — the latter of which were lovingly bestowed by her husband and children — she lived a life marked by deep relationships and utter sweetness. Though she faced many hardships, her strength and unwavering faith always saw her through the toughest times. She never lost her childlike wonder for life, finding beauty even in the mundane and sharing her infectious laugh with anyone she came across. She was tiny but tenacious, fragile but feisty, broken but beautiful.
Mary Jo was born the oldest of six children on January 12, 1955, to Bernard and Joanne (Tobin) Hester in Chicago. She graduated from Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School in 1973 and went on to earn her bachelor’s in psychology from her beloved Saint Mary’s College in 1978. Despite claims to the contrary, she never did date Joe Montana.
She began her career at First National Bank of Chicago, where she one day interrupted the nap of the man she would marry. Encouraged to introduce herself by a mutual friend, she found Bob Norell snoozing over a training manual as he began a rotation through her department. Another chance meeting at Shinnick’s Pub in Chicago before a White Sox home opener eventually led to a wedding date (she invited him), and six years later, on August 2, 1986, their own wedding at St. Germaine’s in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
Over the next 35 years, Mary Jo and Bob built a beautiful, impossibly close family with their three children, Joanne, Amanda and Bobby. They relished tradition and time together, whether on yearly visits to Mackinac Island or Glen Arbor, Michigan, attending grade school sporting events, or enjoying cuddle time on the couch. Mary Jo always endeavored to make those moments perfect, never quite realizing they were perfect simply because she was there.
After the family moved to Bristol in 1996, she became involved in the local Junior Women’s Club, served as president of the Saint Mary’s Alumnae Club of South Bend, volunteered as Joanne’s middle school cheerleading coach and enlisted her husband as Amanda’s soccer coach. Later, she became an increasingly active and integral member of her parish, St. Mary’s of the Annunciation in Bristol, where she looked forward each week to scripture study, the ladies’ lunch, and giving a hard time to dear friend Fr. Bob Van Kempen. Her wardrobe was full of color and prints and she never saw a piece of jewelry or a hat she didn’t like. She loved cooking and baking, watching Hallmark movies and HGTV, reading in the sun, and nuzzling with her dearest pup, Ozzie, and cats Kitty and Petey.
Mary Jo is survived by her husband, Bob; daughters Joanne (Granger, Ind.) and Amanda (Chicago); son Bobby (Bristol, Ind.); father Bernard and stepmother Mary Therese Hester; sisters Elizabeth Hester, Diane Hester and Colleen Wracker (Tim); stepsisters Teresa Olson (Bob) and Nancy King (Brook); sister-in-law Jeanne McLaughlin (Sean); nephews Christopher and Nicholas Wracker, Collin and Patrick McLaughlin, and John (Lauren) and Tom Olson; and niece Maria McLaughlin. She was preceded in death by her mother, Joanne (Tobin) Hester, and brothers Terry and Bernard Hester.
