Norma Adrienne Niblett

Our dear little mother, Norma Adrienne Booth Niblett, has gone to join USAF Ret Col. Charles Tillman Niblett, her husband of 66 years who passed away in 2010. She was living her 100th year on earth. She leaves behind her daughters, Linda Budge Garrison (Lee Garrison) and Adrienne Wilson (Chuck Wilson), four grandsons and their wives, and seven great-grandchildren, along with eight step-grandchildren, and four great, great grandchildren. She also has cousins in Bastrop, Texas and Athens, Georgia.

Born in the Texas Hill Country in 1921 in Red Rock, she graduated from Smithville High School and the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in elementary education. A loyal Texan her entire life, she was orphaned at an early age, but grew up with her grandparents and 12 aunts and uncles who cared for her. Because she was so cute and little, known and loved by all 100 people who lived in Red Rock at the time, she always thought her biography should be called “A Child of the Town”. A lifelong learner, she tried to go to school at the age of four, but was sent home by her cousin the teacher who then gave her lessons at home. She was in all the musical events and oratory performances held on the stage at Duncan’s silent movie theatre, and remembered dressing in her best blue dress to sing “Alice Blue Gown”.

After graduation from the University, Norma Adrienne taught school for a few years until being invited by a best friend to attend a dance to entertain the young flyers who were stationed nearby in pilot training. She and Charlie were soon dating and very much in love. He took her to Ft. Worth to meet his sister and her husband, Edwina and John Ringo. She stayed with them while Charlie went back to pilot training in Corpus Christie during the week. But as summer wore on, she told them she had to go back home to teach. John Ringo kept saying “Now Texas, you know Tillman will be back on the weekend”. And so it went until they were married on November 4th, 1940.

Thus began her life’s adventure as a supportive Air Force wife and mother, as expected in that era. The Air Force took them from Charlie’s family home in Birmingham, Alabama, to Columbus, Georgia, to Columbia, South Carolina, to Burtonwood, England. Always wanting to know as much as possible about their surroundings, she got to know the English wives. She hosted them at tea and lunches, serving them Southern Fried Chicken and potato chips. She joined the WI (Women’s International), and visited the House of Commons. We toured the British Isle and Europe.

The next two years were spent at Westover AFB, Massachusetts, where we were never home on the weekends, always learning about the historic and physical beauty of the area. We learned the making of maple syrup in Vermont and toured homes made with square wooden nails in Sturbridge Village. Then it was on to six years at Robins AFB, Georgia, where it was nice to be closer to family. Norma continued to see the girls through junior and senior high, supported their Brownie and Girl Scout careers, served on the PTA, was a Grey Lady at the Base Hospital, taught Vacation Bible School, and participated in Officer’s Wives Club musical reviews.

The next two years were spent attached to the Combined Services Force at Military Assistance Advisory Group in Taipei, Taiwan. Housing was in the nearby little town of Tien Mou, where every day brought a new site or sound, or people and experience worth photographing. Between official state dinners and the live-in Amah, Norma learned that there was more to Chinese cuisine than the chop suey and chow mein served in Joy Young’s restaurant at home. She took cooking lessons at Madame Chiang Kai-Chek’s Grand Hotel, learned the flower arranging of Ikebana, and was taught the art of Chinese National Painting, guo hua, in exchange for teaching English. A highlight of the experience was being asked to provide the English narration for a celebration of Chiang Kai-Chek’s Birthday on “double ten day” 10/10/1966.

The last years of their Air Force career were spent at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona, where they retired in 1969 to spend the rest of their life together.

But, typical of our mom, retirement had nothing to do with not participating in the local community. They joined the Military Affairs Committee at the Tucson Chamber, and in 1976, she was appointed a member of the Tucson Bicentennial Commission, which became the Tucson-Pima County Historical Society, and was re-appointed every four years for the rest of her life. Norma was honoured as Woman of the Year in 1976.

Charlie and Norma spent over 30 years participating in the Air Force Association, his WWII 7th Bomb Group, and the Daughters of the American Revolution; attending conventions and reunions all over the US. With each travel opportunity, they researched family history and visited relatives. But Charlie was not well over several years and passed away in 2010. Having spent a lifetime of travel and learning, Norma decided to try to continue. She spent Thanksgivings with Adrienne and Chuck, and Christmases with Linda and Lee, getting to know the large extended family.

Beginning in 2011, she spent five years participating in the Capital to Capital Program of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, lobbying on The Hill in Washington, DC. She made 400 new friends in the Sacramento Area who were amazed that a ninety plus year old lady could keep up with the program’s hectic schedule!

But everyone who has ever met Norma knows that was so typical of her. She got to know everyone she ever met and never stopped being curious, asking questions, and learning something new. She never met a person she could not talk to!

The last couple of years, she has been able to stay in her lovely hill top home in the Catalina Mountains of Tucson with the help of Visiting Angels. They have been company for her; cooking, shopping, and taking her to appointments. She will be buried at East Lawn Tucson with Charlie. A beautiful Air Force plaque will commemorate their incredible life together.

Charlie came to take her home.