Nora Grace Koka

Nora Grace Koka, 12, passed away on December 13, 2021. Nora was born on July 29, 2009, to Marin and Angie (Downing) Koka in Des Moines, Iowa.

Nora attended Crocker Elementary and Parkview Middle School in Ankeny, Iowa. She enjoyed riding her bike and going to the pool with her friends in the summer, spending hours talking and laughing with her friends over Facetime, scratching off her mom’s lottery tickets, and spending time with both sets of grandparents. Nora also enjoyed jumping and playing at Urban Air for hours and hours. In her free time, she was a very talented artist and liked to draw anime. Nora also liked to watch and read Japanese movies and books. Over the years, she collected many stuffed animals, or as she would call them, “plushies”. Nora recently started using Duolingo to learn Japanese on her own. She was reading, writing, and speaking Japanese in a very short amount of time.

Nora will be remembered for her energy, wild laughter, and good sense of humor. She will be remembered for being a great friend to so many. Nora had a funny vocabulary that was called, “Nora Speak”. She would recite and sing T.V. commercials. Nora loved and sometimes tormented her cats, Oscar and Grigio. Nora enjoyed being around and looking up to her big sister, Mia. Nora will be remembered most of all for being our precious zemra e vogel (“little heart” in Albanian).

Nora is survived by her parents, Marin and Angie (Downing) Koka; her sister, Mia Koka; maternal grandparents, Norman and Sheryl Downing; paternal grandparents, Viron and Flora Koka; uncle and aunt Aaron and Amber Downing; cousins, Conor and Vincent Downing; Aunt Sabina (Koka) Marsh; and cousin Amelia Marsh.

Memorial contributions for Nora Koka can be addressed to her family for later distribution.