Norman Balmforth

NORMAN L. BALMFORTH IDAHO FALLS, ID - Norman LaVerne Balmforth, departed from this life, under the watchful care of his grandson Jonathan Jay Balmforth, who was holding his hand, on Monday, August 21 2006 at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho from complications of a stroke in April followed by another in August. His family was constantly at his side lovingly caring for his every need. He was 90 years 2 months and 6 days old. Norman was born Thursday, June 15, 1916 at Woodville, Idaho. He was the oldest of three children of Joseph Archibald and Esther Elizabeth Jones Balmforth. His sister Virginia Louise was born in 1919 and his youngest sister Gertrude was born in 1922. He attended the little grade school in Woodville and then went to Shelley High School where he graduated in 1934. He was a good scholar and was the class Salutatorian having the second highest grades in his class. Norm loved sports especially football and was captain of the team both his junior and senior years. He followed in his father’s footsteps and attended Ricks College where he played on one of the first football teams they had. In 1938 he met his future wife who was a waitress at a soda fountain shop near the corner of Broadway & the Yellowstone Highway in Idaho Falls, Idaho. After dating for about a year Norman and Carol Kathryn Leonard were married on Sunday December 24, 1939, at her parents’ home in Idaho Falls. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Idaho Falls Temple on May 24, 1965. Norman and Carol mostly lived in the Woodville area, except from the spring of 1946 to the fall of 1948, when they farmed in Osgood. The years in Osgood were good years, but they were tough years. They had no phone, bathroom, nor running water in the house. They had to carry their water in from a cistern outside. Norm raised grain, potatoes, sugar beets, hay, beef cattle and milk cows. He bought the family farm in Woodville from his father in 1956. He also worked as a supervisor for Rogers Brothers potato processing plant in Idaho Falls finally retiring from there in 1976. A year after Norman and Carol were married, on December 5, 1940 their first child, Katherine LaVerne was born. Norman’s sister Virginia Cox passed away on Dec 18, 1941 after an illness. On May 5, 1945 a son, Joseph Fay, died in childbirth. Another son David Norman was born on October 8, 1946. A few days after Christmas in 1948 David was stricken by both spinal and bulbar polio. A second daughter, Dayle Anne was born on August 1, 1950. Carol loved to ballroom dance and Norman took her to many dances. They were very good dancers and even won a contest. They owned a cabin in Island Park which he and his family built and spent many memorable occasions there with his extended family and friends. Norm was an avid fisherman who could always catch something no matter where he was. He enjoyed hunting too and spent many good times in the Salmon area getting deer and elk for the family to eat. He liked to go snowmobiling and especially loved riding up to Two Top with his friends or family. Norman was well respected by all who knew him. Among his many talents his friends and extended family admired his ability to take control of difficult situations and turn these negative problems into positive outcomes. He was preceded in death by a son, Joseph Fay Balmforth; his parents; two sisters, Virginia Louise (Percy) Cox and Gertrude (Harold) Collard; and his loving wife of almost 60 years, Carol Kathryn Leonard Balmforth. He is survived by his three children all of Shelley: Kathryn LaVerne (Gene) Mathews, David Norman (Peggy Adams) Balmforth, Dayle Anne (Ronald) Hyde; seventeen grandchildren: Kamala Fay (Fredrick) Free, Gavin Gene (Jodie Kellogg) Mathews, and Karina Marie (Ruben) Nieto, of Idaho Falls, ID; Chelese Nicole (James) Patchin, Misty Jo (Jaremy) Wray, Allyson Mathews, Joseph David (Angela Blanchard) Balmforth, Michael Norman (Stephanie Carter) Balmforth, Christopher James (Adrienne Anderson) Balmforth, Jonathan Jay Balmforth, Nicholas Fay Balmforth, Jason Ray Hyde, Jennifer Lyn (John) Behm, and Zane Matthew (Brittany Jones) Hyde of Shelley, ID; Ryan Vaughn (Janalyn Holman) Hyde of Midvale, UT, Roni Jo (Mark) Smith of Harriman, UT and Adam Nathaniel Balmforth currently serving an LDS mission in the Australia Perth Mission; also twenty-five great-grandchildren: Madaline Esther Free, Mariah Noelle Free, Charles Maclain Free, Fredrick Marshall Free, Mason Mathews Free, Hannah Mae Mathews, Hayden Kellogg Mathews, Kathryn Sage Patchin, Cienna Jane Patchin, Sophia Chelese Patchin, Allysa Jo Wray, Jake Jaremy Wray, Luke Mathews Wray, Katherine Carol Jones, Joseph Taylor Balmforth, Emma Jean Balmforth, Braxton Michael Balmforth, Carson Nicholas Balmforth, Carter Ryan Balmforth, Zachariah David Nieto, Caleb Christopher Balmforth, Braden Kent Balmforth, Riley Vaughan Smith, Olivia Jo Smith, Annie Marie Behm, with two more on the way. There will be a viewing at the Woodville 1st Ward LDS Church, north of Shelley at 1555 North 700 East Shelley, ID, Friday, August 25, 2006, from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m., with the funeral services beginning at 12:00 Noon, conducted by Bishop Kris Kelley of the Woodville 1st Ward. Interment will be at the Taylor Cemetery east of Shelley, Idaho, near the rest of the family. -------------------------------------------------- Condolences sent online: Virginia Randall-Jenkins ginnie1351@yahoo.com Thinking of you and wishing I could be there to hug all of you. Think of the wonderful reunion they're having up there!