Norma M. Small was born on June 11, 1932 at Muscatine, Iowa. She was the second of two children that were born to Christine (Smit) and Horatio Nelson Page Small. She grew up with her brother, Theodore, on a farm just outside of Letts, Iowa. Norma received her high school education at Letts where she was a class officer and the salutatorian of her class. She graduated from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa in 1954 with a degree in Home Economics & Education. On September 18, 1956, she and Hessel J. Van Ryswyk, Jr. were united in marriage at Oskaloosa, Iowa. “Red”, as he was known, became General Agent for Guarantee Mutual Life Insurance Company of Omaha, Nebraska. This position required “Red” and Norma to move to Urbandale and Des Moines, Iowa. They built/bought a new home on the outskirts of an urban area which at that time was basically farmland. “Red’s” position as General Agent for the insurance company required much travel and on March 9, 1970, he was fatally injured in an airplane accident. “Red” and Norma were engaged in the growth of Des Moines, however this accident transformed her life. She found purpose and fulfillment in her continued role as a high school home economics teacher.  Norma taught Home Economics in the Des Moines School system for multiple decades and received many thoughtful communications from former students over the years.  She enjoyed shopping and traveling, and gave excellent advice on all cooking and sewing projects. Norma’s health deteriorated and she  relocated to Muscatine, Iowa in 2012 to be near her brother, Ted Small. She became a resident at Lutheran Living in Muscatine where she passed away  on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at the age of 92 years. Norma was preceded in death by her husband, “Red”; her parents, her brother, Ted Small, who died in 2022; her parents-in-law, Hessel and Marie (Branderhorst) Van Ryswyk, and sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Margaret and Marvin Van Gorp, Wilbur and Luella Van Ryswyk. Norma is survived by her sister-in-law, Phyllis L. (Ted) Small of Muscatine and several nieces and nephews who remember their family dinners and warm family gatherings.