September 24, 2010
Norma Lue Jones Noble passed away Friday, Sep. 24 in Grants Pass, OR at the age of 87. She was preceded in death by her husband Don Noble and her son Anthony Duncan Noble as well as five of her siblings, Cleo Lish, Melba Mathis, Amy Rowe, James Jones and Marguerite Satterfield. She is survived by her two daughters, Donna Fray and Melody Noraas, her sister Carolyn Harris, seven grandchildren, Mario DiTerlizzi, Scott Noble, Michael DiTerlizzi, Dawn Thompson, Dyan Thompson, Paige Dantini and Marty DiTerlizzi as well we fourteen great-grandchildren.
Norma Lue was the fifth of seven children born to Rhea and James Jones in Oakley, ID on November 2, 1922. After eight years of marriage Don and Norma and their three children moved to Delano, CA. Norma worked with the interior decorator at Mulligan’s Furniture store in Delano making draperies in her home. She had a strong conviction that she always wanted to be there when her kids got home from school. The family created rich community ties in Delano through church, school, neighbors and work. In 1965 Don and Norma were married again in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint’s Los AngelesTemple.
Not long after that, Norma and Don decided to buy her parent’s farm back in their beloved Idaho. Don went to work for the Utah Power Company and Norma decided she didn’t want to make draperies anymore. She enrolled in Idaho State University at the age of 45 and three and half years later had her elementary teaching credential. She taught primary grades in both Lava Hot Springs and Inkom, ID. After her retirement, the couple was called to a mission in Salt Lake City helping the newly immigrated Indio-Chinese community find resources and work in their new country.
The last big move that Don and Norma made together was to Preston, Idaho. They didn’t live on a farm anymore but always had a beautiful yard filled with flowers and a great garden with tomatoes as their main crop. In each of these communities, they had a strong connection with their Mormon church family. When her husband died four years ago Norma moved to Oregon where she could be cared for in her daughter’s home. Donna Fray and Teresa DiTerlizzi have been her primary caregivers over these past four years.
Family, both the one she grew up in and the one that she and Don created together, were at the center of Norma’s life. She was such a strong, hard-working, honest person and always set her standards high. In all the places she lived she created a serene beautiful environment. She was a naturally shy person and usually felt most comfortable expressing herself with her hands, whether it was making quilts, arranging flowers, or rearranging furniture. Norma was not intimidated by the challenges of life. Whether it was overcoming her shyness or working through the difficulties of a 65-year marriage she was always willing to do the work once she set her goal. Toward the end of her life, she never failed to be delighted by the sight of small children and thought and talked most often of her own loving mother and father. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, September 29, 2010, at 12 noon in the Horsley Funeral Home, 132 W 300 N, (not the Malad LDS Stake Chapel) Friends may visit with the Noble family on Wednesday prior to the service at the Horsley Funeral Home 132 W. 300 N. in Malad from 10:30-11:45 am. Burial will follow in the St. John Cemetery.