If you knew Norma Evenbeck, then your heart has been blessed. She was a blessing to the families she knew growing up during the Great Depression in McComb, Ohio. She was a blessing to her husband to whom she wrote every day of the four years he served in the Pacific during World War II during which time she was employed with the Hancock County Probate Court. She was a blessing to her own children Scott and Lynne who she selflessly supported in numerous academic and musical endeavors throughout their lives. She was a blessing to the hundreds of children she recruited for Sunday School at High Street United Methodist Church in Fostoria, Ohio, where she served as Superintendent of the primary department for decades. She was a blessing to the multitudes of patients she served when she worked in the medical offices of Dr. Ulicny, also in Fostoria. She was a blessing to the staff and residents of the Grand Rapids Care Center where she spent her last years. She was a blessing to the many, many friends she wrote letters to for years (often accompanied by a stick of gum). She was a blessing to her numerous other friends, neighbors, and family members. If you knew Norma Evenbeck then surely she told you at one time or another “Well, bless your heart” and she meant it.
Norma’s ninety-seven-year long earthly life was full of blessings. She graduated from McComb High School in 1937 and attended Findlay College, completing a one-year secretarial course. She married Benjamin Franklin Evenbeck in 1941, and they enjoyed sixty-two years of marriage before his death in 2004. She delighted in being a beloved mother, aunt, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was generous in her “just because” shipments of cookies to friends and family far and wide. She loved the people of High Street Methodist Church in Fostoria, Ohio, and Calvary United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids, Ohio, and grew especially close to the women in her United Methodist Women circles.
Surviving are a son, Dr. Scott E. Evenbeck of West New York, New Jersey; a daughter, Lynne E. (Joe) Long of Grand Rapids, Ohio; grandchildren Kevin J. Long (Jennifer Turner), The Rev. Dr. Robin L. Carden (Dr. Jesse Carden), and Benjamin F. Evenbeck III (Katie); and great-grandchildren Nathan Benjamin Sanderson, Olivia Turner Long, and Lucille Norma Evenbeck. Also surviving are dear sister-in-law Luella Lewis and special friend Mary Frazier. Her parents, Thomas Burton Kelley and Garnette Shafer Kelley, her sister, Donna Coffman, and husband, Benjamin Frankin Evenbeck, preceded her in death.
Visitation will be held at Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home and Crematory ,1460 W. Wooster St., P.O Box 648, Bowling Green, Ohio 43402 from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday March 30, 2016 .The funeral service will follow at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Gordon E. Johnson officiating. Burial will follow in Fountain Cemetery, Fostoria.
Memorials may be made to: Calvary United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 224, Grand Rapids, OH 43522, or to Friends of Wood County Committee on Aging, Inc., 305 N. Main St., Bowling Green, OH 43402.
On line condolences as well as fond memories may be shared with Norma’s family by visiting www.hannemanfh.com.
