Norma Lee (Bateman) Hendry

Norma Lee Bateman was born April 19th 1938 to Steve Jerome Bateman and Maurine Nordfelt Bateman in Murray, Utah.  The family lived in Utah until the summer of 1947 when they moved to New Plymouth Idaho.  The family tried their hand at farming for three years and realized they were not farmers.  They moved into town in 1950.  Norma grew up in New Plymouth.  She attended New Plymouth grade school, New Plymouth Junior High School and New Plymouth high school.  She met and married Don Thompson in February 1956.  Norma stayed at home to finish high school while Don shipped out with the Navy.  Don and Norma had two children together. Guy was born in October of 1958 and Steven in October of 1959.  When Norma and Don were divorced, Guy stayed with Norma and Steven went to live with his dad.  Norma  married Gerald Ludwig in September of 1960.  They lived in Texas most of their married life.  They added three children to the family.  Russel in January of 1961, Christine in March of 1962 and Valerie in April of 1964.  They were later divorced and the children grew up with Gerald. Norma often expressed her regrets about missing out on this time with her children.  She later married Joe Campos and helped him raise his daughter Angela.  They were divorced.  While in Texas Norma worked for NASA for a time and spent many years working for the general headquarters of Coca Cola.  We all enjoyed Norma’s visits when she would bring Coca Cola swag to pass out to the family.  In 1996 Norma decided she had had enough of Texas and came back to Idaho.  She lived for a time with Shirley and Dennis.  She spent some time living with our aunt Delaine Bateman caring for her until Delaine passed away.  Norma was reunited with her high school sweetheart in late 2002.  She and Dean were married in April of 2003 and enjoyed over three years together before Dean passed away in 2006.  Norma lived in Nampa for a time and enjoyed having Christine move to Nampa to live with her.  She loved having family around her. Norma loved to sew and crochet.  Many of us were recipients of her handiwork over the years.  She was sad when her eyesight became so poor she could no longer do her handiwork.  In October of 2022, Norma moved to live with her son Steven in Arizona, where she lived until her death on December 25, 2024.

Norma was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings, Donald and Ethel, her sons, Russell and Guy and her husband William Dean Hendry.