Norma Kay Rector

Norma Rector, 88, went home to be with Jesus on August 7, 2023. She was born January 31, 1935, in Mt. Ayr, Iowa, at her grandparents’ farm. At the time, her folks lived in Creston, Iowa, but moved to Mt. Ayr when she was about 2 years old. She lived on a dairy farm until she was 5, then the family moved to town and lived across the street from her school until she was 7. Things were still hard in the 30’s and 40’s and the family didn’t have much, but she was so grateful for what they did have.

She worked hard while growing up. She babysat for $0.25 per hour, waitressed at the diner her dad owned, she worked on the dairy farm, worked at a drug store, worked as a secretary at National Oats Company, and cleaned lab dishes and test tubes in a hospital. She played the clarinet and sometimes the drums in the high school marching band. She was in choir and on the yearbook staff. She also enjoyed being part of the class plays. She went on to attend Coe College for 1 year, then to Northwest Medical Technology in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was a lab tech, radiology tech, then settled into Practice Manager at an OB/GYN practice for the remainder of her career.

Norma married Eugene Rector on September 12, 1956. They had 64 blessed years together before he went home to heaven in 2020. She felt she achieved her dreams by working in the medical field, getting married and having a family. In her words, “I did all I set out to do, and I did it with a really great guy!”. They were the best of friends from the moment they met. Her love for him and devotion to him did not end when he passed, and we are confident they have been reunited in heaven.

Norma deeply loved the Lord, her family, and her friends. She loved gardening and anything that related to birds. She was a walking encyclopedia on both topics. However, the most important thing to her was to share the hope of salvation with anyone she met. She wanted everyone to feel the genuine and unconditional love that God had to give to every person. She wanted them to know the true freedom they could have in Jesus. She gave freely of her time to anyone who needed it and always made sure that everyone felt welcome and accepted in her presence.

In addition to her husband, Gene, she was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers, John and Donald, her sister, Marilyn and her grandson, Matthew.

She is survived by her children, Michael Rector married to Cheryl, Karen Acosta Hernandez married to Roberto and Rhona “Mikki” Baker married to Steven, her grandchildren Shaundra, Laura married to Daniel, Ryan, Brandi, Christine, Brian married to Shelli, Christopher married to Tonya, Crystal, Benjamin, and Miguel married to Norma. She had 22 great-grandchildren and one great-great granddaughter.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, August 17, 2023, from 5:00-7:00pm, Friday, August 18, 2023, from 9:00-10:00am and will be followed by her funeral service at 10:00am at Horan & McConaty, 9998 Grant St. Thornton, CO 80229. Livestreaming of the services can be found at the following: https://bxcited.com/norma-kay-rector/.

Norma will be laid to rest in Fort Logan National Cemetery with her beloved Gene.