Mary Jo Norgaard

By Staff
Jan. 10, 2009
Funeral for Mary Jo Norgaard, 94, of Chester-ton, Ind. (a former resident of Hartselle) was Sat-urday, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Chesterton with the Rev. James Meade officiating and Edmonds &Evans Funeral Home directing.
A graveside service followed on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 1 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Iowa City, Iowa, with Deacon Joe Behounek officiating.
Mrs. Norgaard died Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, at the home of her son, James Norgaard. She was born in Ponca City, Okla. on Oct. 24, 1914, to Thomas Joseph Silvy and Mary Johana Dierker Silvy. She graduated from Stockton High School in California in 1933 and pursued a career as a cosmetologist after graduating from cosmetology school. She married Air Force Capt. Jens Norgaard in 1943. After World War II, they raised their five children while he was employed with Standard Oil Co. of Indiana. They retired to Florida in 1981 and lived in Mulberry and Haines City. After her husband died in 1989, Mrs. Norgaard continued to live in Haines City and enjoyed frequent visits from her family and friends. After a three-hurricane season in 2004, she moved to Hartselle to live with her daughter, Jenise. In 2008, she moved to Chesterton to live with her son, James. She was dearly loved and will be deeply missed by her family and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Jens Norgaard; two sisters, Helen Griffin and Catherine Forenti; and a brother, Thomas Silvy.
She is survived by two sons, Anders Norgaard and wife Geraldine of Belle Plaine, Iowa and James Norgaard and wife Charla of Chesterton, Ind.; three daughters, Mary Norgaard of Burlington, Wisc., Ann Michaels and husband Fred of Wilmington, Del. and K. Jenise Filiatrault and husband John of Hartselle; two sisters, Edna Dick of Stockton, Calif. and Pat Lang and husband Don of St. Mary’s, Ga; 21 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.