On the morning of Thursday, August 19, 2021, Norma Best died peacefully in her home near Bowling Green.
Norma was born in Bowling Green, Ohio on July 8, 1918, to the Honorable Charles Sherrod Hatfield and Katherine Taylor Hatfield. Both parents preceded her in death. Her older sister, Margaret Hatfield Schulze and her older brother, Dos Taylor Hatfield, also preceded her in death.
In 1922, Norma’s father was appointed to the US Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, and moved the family to Washington, D.C. She loved growing up in the nation’s capital, and to the end of her life, she could still remember smelling the cherry blossom trees in the spring, picking pansies in the garden, playing in the wooded backyard and roller skating down Cathedral Avenue.
While there, Norma met every president from Harding to Truman. If you shook Norma’s hand, you shook the hand that shook FDR’s hand! Her first dog, an Airedale named Tag, was a littermate to the Harding’s dog, Laddie Boy.
Norma always was grateful that her nieces and nephews grew up so close to her. She adored them and the feeling was mutual. All of them showed their love by attending either her 90th or 100th Birthday parties.
Norma attended and received both her Bachelor’s and Juris Doctor degrees from George Washington University. She practiced law for a short time, mostly working on adoptions. She said she liked that practice, because it usually resulted in something positive for all the parties involved.
During World War II, Norma joined the Red Cross and served overseas, mostly in India.
She took pride in helping soldiers relax at a canteen. She reflected “It was a place they could come and have a meal and quiet time to read. We did everything we could think of to bring pleasure to the men as they came through,” Best said, including providing them with food and stationery to write home. Somewhere along the way, she learned to read palms, and entertained the troops with predictions of long, happy lives. This time of her life expanded her view of the world and engendered an appreciation for different cultures and faiths.
After the War, she met Mitchell Best, a former fullback for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, a veteran of the war in the South Pacific, and also an alumnus of George Washington Law School. They married May 22, 1948.
Shortly thereafter, Norma and Mitch visited the family farm near Bowling Green and decided to try their hand at farming. So they moved to Ohio, and they lived and loved the farming life, even with all its ups and downs. “There’s a fragrance of the earth when it turns over. You really don’t get the full effect unless you’re out there,” said Norma, who lived in the family home on Newton Road, surrounded by farmland and wildlife habitat, until her death.
The couple had three children, daughters Kathy, Bowling Green; Margaret Burlingame (Jim), Indianapolis; and son Lou (Tanya), Bluffton, all of whom survive her.
Norma immersed herself in her children and community. She was a regular at music events, skating performances and baseball games in which her kids were involved. She is remembered by many as a Girl Scout leader as well as running the ice cream social at Crim Elementary. She fed literally thousands of kids and their parents at the Annual Youth Hunt and many hunter education classes for Wood-Lucas Pheasants Forever.
Norma and Mitchell hosted two Drum & Bugle Corps at their home and farm, the Kingsmen from Anaheim, California for a picnic while stopping in Bowling Green for a clinic, and the Glassmen from Toledo for a picnic and rehearsal out in the country.
When her kids were all in school, Norma went to work at Bowling Green State University, first in the library and then in the Bursar’s Office. She retired at age 70 in 1988.
Norma became a familiar face at the Wood County Senior Center, especially in March and April, when she would volunteer to help people with their taxes.
In the later years of her life, Norma was an active member of Peace Lutheran Church in Bowling Green. In 2006, in honor and deep appreciation of Norma, the church designated the fourth Sunday in the month of August to be Hospitality Sunday, recognizing Norma’s special knack of making everyone feel welcomed.
Members of the church, other friends and family gathered at her home recently to celebrate Norma’s 103rd birthday, giving her a wonderful day and the chance to once again be a hostess in her final days.
It is fitting that a Commendation of Norma’s life will be on Hospitality Sunday, August 22 at Peace Lutheran Church as part of the Sending of its Worship Service at 10:00 am. All are welcome. Light refreshments and time to gather with family and friends to follow the service. Livestreamed at www.facebook.com/groups/120662287240/.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Peace Lutheran Church, 1021 W. Wooster St., Bowling Green, Ohio 43402.
Arrangements have been entrusted with the Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home & Crematory, 1460 W.Wooster St., P.O Box 648, Bowling Green, Ohio 43402.
Online condolence, as well as a fond memory may be sent to Norma’s family by visiting www.hannemanfuneralhomes.com.
