Norma L. Soethout, 79, died Friday, May 20, 2022, at Kavanagh House in Des Moines, surrounded by her loving family. Visitation will be held from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Thursday, May 26, 2022 at McLaren’s Resthaven Chapel in West Des Moines. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 27. 2022 at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, of which she was a former employee and long-time member. Burial will follow a luncheon at the church at Resthaven Cemetery. The funeral service will be available to view online at http://hopeonline.tv/specialevents.
Norma was born in Storm Lake, IA, grew up in Newell, and graduated from Newell Community School in 1960. She graduated from business school in Omaha, Nebraska in 1961. Norma lived and worked in Omaha for three years before moving to Des Moines in 1964. She worked in the administrative assistant field for numerous years, having worked for Lutheran Social Service of Iowa, Wesley Day Advertising, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa, and Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines before retiring in October of 2006.
She married Harold D. Soethout on June 9, 1968, and just missed celebrating their upcoming 54th wedding anniversary. Norma made friends easily with many calling her their second mom or grandmother. She actively enjoyed church groups (The Hope Quilters, Teacups, and 50 Plus), quilting, antique/flea markets and auctions, reading, and traveling. Norma took great pleasure in making others smile through a practical joke, as a clown named “Giggles” entertaining children with balloon making and face painting, or by sharing her baking prowess via a jar of beet jelly, zucchini bread, or any number of her special treats. Her proudest achievement was raising three wonderful children and spending time with her six grandchildren. Family and friends meant everything to her.
Norma is survived by many family members and friends including her husband, Harold; children: Dwight (Deanna) Soethout of Urbandale, IA, Heidi (Harry III) Ehmsen of Solon, IA, Tyler (Stacy) Soethout of Indianola, IA; grandchildren: Peyton and Connor Soethout, Harry IV and Kinsley Ehmsen, Adam and Ben Soethout; sister, Marian Williams, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Hilbert and Ruby Swanson and her sister, Jane Sievers.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, Lutheran Church of Hope, St. Jude’s, Suncrest Hospice, or Kavanagh House.
