Norma Swan to celebrate centennial birthday July 1

Norma Swan sits outside her family home in Ogema where she has lived most of her life. Norma is celebrating her 100th birthday on July 1 and invites the entire community to come out and celebrate with her. MANDEE ELLIS/THE STAR NEWS Norma Swan, a fixture in Ogema and well-known across the area, is turning 100 years old on July 1. Though it’s hard to picture Ogema and Ring School Road ever existing without Norma, she isn’t originally from the area. She was born on the east coast of Virginia, the fourth of five children. Her family was poor, but Norma states she never gave it much thought and always felt if she could give her children a childhood like her own that she couldn’t ask for more. While the in the midst of the Great Depression, Norma’s mother ran an ironing business and Norma was the only one of her siblings allowed to help her mother iron. While helping to provide for the family Norma took her studies seriously and graduated high school in 1942, the valedictorian of a class of 500 at just 16 years old. She got a job in the office of a department store, though her father always wanted Norma to attend college. But Norma was glad to contribute and when her father passed that same year it was she who made the loan payments on the family home. One evening, while enjoying a night out with friends at the roller rink, Norma met a shy young coast guardsman from Wisconsin. David Swan was smitten with her and while he worked 24-hour rotating shifts with the coast guard, he was sure to meet Norma at the ferry every day. He even gave Norma a friendship ring, but she knew her mother would never allow her to wear it. Norma turned out to be wrong as Dave charmed her mother who let her wear Dave’s ring after all. When Dave told Norma he loved her so much that it hurt, she told him he should take an Alka-Seltzer. But he was serious and he asked her to visit Wisconsin with him on his next leave from the coast guard. Again, Norma told Dave that her mother would never allow it, and again Norma was wrong. They traveled by train to meet Dave’s family in Ogema. “I was scared to death,” Norma said recalling the trip. But Dave was ever the gentleman, even buying Lysol and sponges to thoroughly clean the public bath for her before Norma bathed during the trip to Ogema. And Dave’s family became just as taken with Norma as he was, while Norma fell in love with his family, the land, and Dave himself. Norma and Dave married in Virginia three and a half months after they first met. They had their first boy two and a half years after that, and when their baby was only four months old the young family moved to Ogema and settled into rural life. When they arrived the community threw the family a housewarming party and Pastor Hilda Youngquist read a poem that she penned just for them. To this day Norma recalls how embraced she felt, and still feels, by everyone in the region. “Every day when we come back home, I feel it in my heart, it’s just so peaceful,” Norma said of the family homestead. Eventually, the couple moved into the home Dave grew up in, and they raised three children all while doing everything and anything to make ends meet. Norma cooked at the school and at Forest Springs Camp, where she was a prominent fixture for 20 years. She, Dave and their children also started and maintained a successful Christmas tree farm at their home for decades. Norma became the president of the Christmas Tree Association for many years, and they sent her to speak at events held in San Diego, New Orleans, the United Kingdom, Canada, Seattle, and New York. “That was no chore to me at all,” said Norma, who has always been an outgoing people-person. She credits the success of their 100-acre Christmas tree operation to her husband who came up with the idea. Norma states that the hard work that comes with tending to the land is also what has helped her stay so healthy for so long. She recalls mowing the lawn between the Christmas trees back when she didn’t have a riding lawnmower, often walking anywhere between 12 to 20 miles each day to mow. “I think activity, outdoor activity and fresh air and sunshine is good for a person,” Norma said. Norma still lives in their family home on a rolling hillside off a quiet dirt road. She takes her own advice by riding her stationary bike every day and spending as much time as possible on her porch, admiring the flowers that her son, Steve Swan, has planted for her. Norma says that even before exercise and fresh air, her good health is graced by the Almighty. “I communicate with God a lot, and I feel His presence in my life,” she said. Steve echoes her spirituality, stating that Norma has been blessed with the ability to turn negativity into positivity. “She doesn’t even realize she does it,” Steve said of his mother’s unique trait and soothing spirit. In addition to tending to her faith, Norma spends quite a bit of time with her good friend Gene Rowe, who recently moved from Portland, Ore. to a house just down the road. Gene takes Norma along on day trips to Ashland and Hayward, and they go for lattes up to five times a week. “He’s so funny,” Norma said of Gene. “He could not be better to me if he was my own son.” Norma has many close friends with people all over relying on her for her good company and calming energy. She is especially fond of the neighborhood kids, which should come as no surprise since Norma has 10 grandchildren, 17 greatgrandchildren, and four great-greatgrandchildren, all of whom will be present to celebrate her birthday with her. “They’re such a joy to me,” Norma said of her family and close friends. “I feel truly blessed.” Norma and her family invite anyone who would like to wish her a happy birthday to attend her celebration on Tuesday, July 1 from 3-7 p.m. at W3198 Ring School Road in Ogema. Though she was still snowmobiling and jet-skiing in her 60’s and parasailing in her 70’s, Norma will not be doing any extreme sports for her birthday this year, instead choosing to spend a relaxing evening with family and loved ones. “I feel so thankful for so many things, people are so good to me, I feel truly blessed.”