Norma Jean Stutterheim

Norma Jean (Schakelaar) Stutterheim, 91, celebrated New Year's Eve by entering into the arms of Jesus, passing peacefully at home in Quartzsite, AZ, after a chronic illness with family around her. She was born at home in a farmhouse north of Logan, KS, to Henry and Jeanette Schakelaar, October 22, 1930. She attended school and grew up in the Prairie View community and acquired a teaching certificate following her high school graduation. She was a teacher at heart throughout her lifetime: teaching and substitute teaching in various schools in the communities she lived, along with teaching Sunday School. She has shared her past 75 years (71 years married) with the love of her life, marrying Myron Stutterheim on June 2, 1950. While living in Kansas, Myron and Norma lived in the communities of Prairie View and Long Island, where she worked hard being a teacher, wife, and mother of five children. They moved to Eagle, Colorado (1963), to Big Timber, Montana (1968), and then to Clyde Park/Wilsall, Montana (1974) where Norma practiced the trade of being a Rancher's wife. She and Myron became snowbirds to Quartzsite, Arizona in 1977, which became a yearly trek for the past 45 years. During her last months, many evenings were spent listening to music and looking at the stars while sitting on the patio, crocheting, much to her enjoyment. Norma was very generous and never had idle hands. She loved working outdoors, milking cows, growing gardens, and tending animals, but also was a great cook. She could whip up a meal with ease (especially fried chicken and pies every Sunday, and her chocolate peanut butter bars) for her family or whomever may be visiting, often taking meals to the fields during harvest. No one ever went hungry when Norma was cooking; everyone was always welcome. She also sewed, knitted, and crocheted. As she increased in age, she crocheted yarn rugs for every family member and many life-long friends, and graduates in her church community. Norma's faith, family and friends have consistently been a focus of all she has done. She has always been a hard worker, never complained, and always made the best of whatever situation she was up against. She was confident in her eternal destiny and prayed faithfully for her family and many friends. Norma was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Jeanette Schakelaar, along with her baby sister, Dorothy, and a grandson, Troy Stutterheim. Surviving family members include: Ron (Sherri) Stutterheim, of Good Year, AZ; Lee (Becky) Stutterheim, of Shields Valley, MT; Janet (Duane) Clark of Wilsall, MT; Daryl (Paulette) Stutterheim of Shields Valley, MT; and Carol Demaray, of Billings, MT. She considered herself blessed to have had 13 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, as well as many other "adopted" friends and family. . Cremation has taken place with pending memorial services to be held at a later date in Quartzsite, AZ, at the Quartzsite Alliance Church, and in Montana, where the Franzen-Davis Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.