- Date Of Birth: April 27, 1927
- Date Of Death: October 4, 2020
- State: Idaho
Norma Turnbull, beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, left this mortal realm on October 4, 2020, at her home in Meridian, Idaho, at the age of 93.
She was born April 27, 1927, in Shelley, Idaho, to Jesse and Wanetta Pugmire, and was the fourth of five children (Bertha, Verda, Lawrence, and Ronald).
Norma graduated from Shelley High School in 1944 and attended Utah State University for two years before returning to Idaho Falls to work as a bookkeeper for an insurance company. To supplement her income, she also worked as a dress model in the city’s most exclusive women’s clothing boutique, Levine’s. It was a bygone era when patrons paid young, attractive women to model their clothes rather than suffer the indignity of disrobing in a changing room.
In 1949, Norma caught the eye of Bill Turnbull as she walked to work smartly dressed in a suit and heels. Bill, who was passing by in his new convertible, nearly veered off the road at the sight of her. He was a veteran World War II Navy pilot who had returned home and found work as a cabinet maker. But despite his matinee idol good looks and gregarious personality, Bill was finding it difficult to find a suitable wife, until then. He hunted down a friend who knew Norma and asked him to make the introduction. Norma was 22 years old (borderline spinster by the standards of the day), but she was no pushover. Still, having sifted through a bevy of would-be paramours, she immediately spotted in Bill the qualities she wanted in a husband — He was handsome, witty, a hard worker, and, crucially, he made her laugh. They were married on July 27, 1950, in Idaho Falls. A few years later, Bill embraced Norma’s faith, and their marriage was sealed in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. The fun and laughter continued for 52 years of marriage.
Bill continued working by day as a cabinet maker, but by night and on weekends, he built and sold homes. The Baby Boom generation needed housing, and Bill was happy to oblige.
In 1972, Bill and his sons built the family’s cabin in the mountains of Island Park, Idaho, and it became the family’s weekend playground for water skiing in the summer and snowmobiling in the winter. Norma was a constant, sunny presence on the shore of Hebgen Lake as the kids water skied, offering a towel as they returned from the water and handing out sandwiches and soft drinks.
Years flew by and her children grew and left home, but the nest did not long remain empty as grandchildren began to arrive in waves. By 1980, Norma and Bill had moved into a new home in Rexburg, Idaho, and it became the family seat for three generations of Turnbulls. By all appearances, Norma enjoyed being a grandmother as much as she did motherhood. If all the photographs of Norma reading bedtime stories to the grandchildren could be assembled, they would easily paper the walls of that home. In 1985, Bill and Norma sold the business and retired, moved to a townhouse in Idaho Falls, bought a second home in St. George, Utah, for the winter months, and lavished their attention on the grandchildren. In 1998, the couple fulfilled the lifelong dream of serving a mission in Nauvoo, Illinois.
After Bill’s passing in 2002, Norma moved to Salt Lake City and immediately formed a circle of treasured friends. She lived across the street from Temple Square in the Gateway Apartments until 2017, when she moved to The Abbington assisted living facility in Holladay, Utah.
She is survived by her younger brother, Ronald; her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
