Norma Ruth Wolter

Norma Ruth Wolter, age 93, of Harrah, OK, was born to Carl and Elizabeth Wolter on June 22, 1923, at the Seventh-day Adventist Sanitarium in Chamberlain, South Dakota. She left this life on Thursday, July 7, 2016, in Harrah, OK. She grew up on a farm west of Wessington Springs, SD. The family was faithful in attending camp meetings at the State Fair Grounds at Huron, SD. While there, Norma gave her heart to the Lord and was baptized while attending the Aberdeen SDA church. She attended the Wessington Springs High School, graduating in 1940. That fall she and her brother Raymond attended Northern State Teacher’s College at Aberdeen. After one year of study she spent three years teaching rural schools in Hand and Jerauld Counties. In the fall of 1944 she continued her education at Union College, Lincoln, NE, the college from which her father graduated. Elder J. Rhodes called her to teach at the Twin City Junior Academy in Minneapolis. She learned that Union College was offering a B.S. in Education, so she returned to Union and graduated in 1948 with a B. S., majoring in education and religion. She accepted a call to teach at the Junior Academy in St. Louis, MO. At that time the Whitsetts and Braleys were holding meetings in St. Louis. Many good memories remain, but Norma wanted to move to another location because of the climate. The answer came when Elder Lee Carter called his brother Glenmore in St. Louis. (Norma was living in an apartment in the same house) and Lee was needing a teacher at Denver Junior Academy. The place appealed to Norma and that started a 27 year stay in Denver, teaching in the same school. Summer time was spent at the farm with her folks until she accepted summer employment with the Colorado Conference. Most of that time was spent at Glacier View Camp and with crafts for the campers. Some of the summer would be used helping with VBS in different churches. After Coreina Lowry married John Hendricks and lived in Akron, CO, she started a VBS program there and asked the Conference to have Norma come to do the crafts for it. Norma helped out there for over 35 years. In 1978 Norma decided to leave Denver and move to a location closer to her brother, as her mother was living with her and this would make it easier for her mother to see him. Mena, AR, appealed to her as a new school was being built on the church grounds. At that time a good teacher friend, Mabel Madsen, said she would move there and they purchased a house together. Mabel spent that year and the two following, teaching in Taipei, Taiwan. Norma’s mother passed away in April, 1980, so it was good to have a special friend living with her. In 1985 Norma retired from teaching. Prior to that Norma’s Aunt Louise Capen moved to Summit Ridge. While visiting her, Mabel and Norma got acquainted with Summit Ridge, so in 1988 they decided to build there. The move to Summit Ridge was made in May 1989. Both Mabel and Norma spent Tuesdays working at the SDA Choctaw Community Service Center. In February, 1998, Norma went on her first Maranatha trip to Venezuela. Later she also went to Honduras, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Peru, working with Sonia Cano doing crafts for VBS. She also went to the mission trip to Yap, Ghana, Africa and Ecuador, South America. That was the last mission trip. (Foregoing written by Norma herself.) Postscript: Norma moved from her duplex on Bluejay into Independent living at Wolfe Living Center the first week of August, 2015. Although dementia handicapped her so that she could not do many of the things she had so loved to do, she was active and took no medications until her unfortunate fall on June 21, 2016. Norma had no close family members left, just some cousins who lived in other states, but she considered the Summit Ridge family her family and she was well loved by those who knew her. Services will be 11:00 AM, Tuesday, July 12, 2016, at Summit Ridge Seventh Day Adventist Church, Harrah, OK. Interment will follow at Summit Ridge Cemetery, Harrah, OK. Services are under the direction of Smith~Parks Funeral Service in Harrah, OK. A guest book is available to share your memories on line. Please visit: www.smithparks.com.