Kathryn "Kathy" Norum

Kathryn Hermine (Faber) Norum was born on November 30, 1940 in Middletown, New York to Nick and Tillie (Jellema) Faber. Kathy and her family moved to Minnesota in 1950 where she graduated from high school in 1958. She continued her education at Augsburg University in Minneapolis for two years. This is where she met her future husband, Arden Norum, and the two were married on December 21, 1960. The couple started their family soon after and had two daughters: Lori and Linda. The family relocated to several areas in North Dakota for Arden’s pastoral work. Kathy was able to finish her degree in child development and family relations at NDSU in 1975. When the family moved to Grand Forks, Kathy worked with Arden at the United Lutheran Shalom bible camp. She was Arden’s right-hand lady, helping wherever she could. Kathy was also the head of the flower committee and ran the living memorials program. In 1984, the family moved to Alexandria when Arden became a director at the Luther Crest Bible Camp. Kathy also worked at Luther Crest helping with the cooking and cleaning duties and occasionally teaching at women’s week. When Arden retired in 2003, the couple would travel to Hawthorne, FL to volunteer at Luther Springs Bible Camp during the winters for over 13 years. Kathy also volunteered her time in many other ways including quilting for Lutheran World Relief, taking on the role as congregational president at Shalom Lutheran Church, and cross-stitching and knitting for her church family.

In her spare time, Kathy loved to travel. Starting in 1964 Kathy and her family would take road trips in their pop-up campers. Kathy would always be in charge of navigating and picking out the most interesting places to visit including landmarks, museums, and even dinosaur bones. By 1994, the couple had visited all 48 contiguous states and later made it to Alaska. Kathy was also an avid reader, loved doing puzzles and crosswords, and had a passion for gardening. She enjoyed planting flowers and organic plants, and never missed planting her annual fuchsia for the hummingbirds.

Kathy passed away on Saturday, June 26, 2021, at Alomere Health at the age of 80. She is survived by her husband of over 60 years: Arden; her 2 daughters: Lori (Cory) Mahanna and Linda (Daryl) Timian; 4 grandchildren: Marc (Carrie) Mahanna, Michael Mahanna, Sarah Timian, and Eric (Amy) Timian; 2 great-granddaughters: Rebecca and Isabella Mahanna; 8 siblings; and 2 sisters-in-law. Kathy is preceded in death by her parents; her sister; and 1 brother-in-law.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, July 2, 2021, at Shalom Lutheran Church in Alexandria. Visitation will be held for one hour prior to the service at the church.  This service will be live-streamed and recorded for family and friends to view from Kathy’s obituary page on the Anderson Funeral Home website at 11:00 AM on Friday. Burial will take place at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to Luther Crest Bible Camp or the Shalom Lutheran Church building fund.