Norma Marie Epley

Born in 1929 in Buhl, Idaho to Florence and Harlan See, Norma grew up in a farming community and attended grade school at a one-room schoolhouse. She graduated from Buhl High School, attended the University of Idaho and University of Oregon where she joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority and graduated with an education degree in 1953. Norma turned a lot of heads, but when she met a handsome pre-med major, John Epley, on a ‘coke date,’ the two quickly became a couple and were married in 1954.

For the first three summers of their marriage, the newlyweds lived in a 60-foot glass lookout on top of Walker Mountain in the Deschutes National Forest. During the school year, they lived in Portland while Norma taught first grade and John attended medical school.

Starting in 1957, John’s career took them to several locations around the country, including: Miami, Florida, Vandenberg Air Force base, San Jose and Lompoc and Menlo Park, California. During this time, their two daughters, Cathy and Cynthia were born. In 1965, the family moved to the Mt. Tabor area in Portland where Norma and John lived for four decades.

Norma was a skilled homemaker and her social skills made the Epley family an integral part of the neighborhood. Making life-long friends and being social were her natural gifts. She also had flare and style that showed in the warm and inviting home she kept for her family as well as her own personal style.

She volunteered for several decades at the Catlin Gabel Rummage Sale, running the “What’s New” department. In the early 1980s she also took over management of John’s medical practice until his retirement. In 2006, they moved to a condominium in Vancouver, Washington. The last two years of her life were spent in the loving care of Guardian Angel One, an adult care home in Vancouver.

She enjoyed a long marriage and had many friends, but her life was marred by tragedy in 1981 when her daughter, Cynthia, at the age of 19, was killed in a car accident. Preceded in death by her parents, Harlan and Florence; and daughter, Cynthia; Norma leaves behind her husband, John Epley; daughter, Cathy Epley; sister, Karan Hendrix; brother, Don See and their spouses, children and grandchildren; along with her brother-in-law, Malcolm Epley and his spouse, children and grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, December 1, 2017 at 1:30 PM at Vancouver Funeral Chapel, 110 E. 12th St., Vancouver, Washington 98660

Arrangements under the direction of Vancouver Funeral Chapel, Vancouver, WA.