Norma Jean (Bonen) Esser

Norma Jean Esser, 91, passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, August 10, after spending several days visiting with family and friends.

Visitation for Norma will be 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Friday morning August 16 at S.S. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, recitation of the rosary will begin at 9:30 a.m.  Mass of Christian Burial will follow the visitation at 11:30 a.m. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Norma was born to Joseph Henry and Bertha Annamarie (Schneider) Bonen on July 24, 1933. She spent her early years on the family farm in Pilot Grove, Missouri and attended St. Joseph Catholic School. When the Bonen family moved to Hwy 5 in Speed, Missouri, Norma attended SS Peter and Paul Catholic High School where she enjoyed playing on the girls’ basketball team.  On September 1, 1951, she married Franklyn June Esser, the love of her life for 67 years at the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Pilot Grove. Shortly after the wedding, Franklyn was drafted into the army and Norma moved to Atlanta, Georgia.  She worked in the lamp department of Green’s Department Store. After his return from the Korean war, they bought a farm in Blackwater, Missouri, started a farming operation and raised eight children. Norma spent many hours sewing, gardening, cooking and caring for her husband and family. She was a strong woman who offered support and strength to those around her. She welcomed everyone with open arms, iced tea and something to eat. The occasional renovation or sewing project helped her to use her creative thinking skills. She was not afraid to try projects that needed an innovative solution.

Norma worked side by side with her husband, Franklyn, on the farm and as a family they earned multiple agricultural awards including the Missouri State Fair Farm Family (2 times), The Balanced Farming District Award 1964, Farm Management State Achievement Award-Cooper County 1979, The American Royal Farm Family Merit Award 1980, and Missouri Statewide Steer Futurity 1991-92.  Norma also won the Women in Agriculture in 1988.  She set an excellent example of how to work hard. She shared the importance of faith, family and the value of friendship and community.  Norma volunteered with the local Lions Club and voting polls.  She made 97 trips to donate over 12 gallons of blood to the Red Cross. 

Once her children were grown and out of the house, she served her community for 10 years by driving the OATS Bus for Cooper County. She learned how to parallel park a bus in the tiniest parking spaces.  After retiring from OATS, she enjoyed a neighborhood coffee club, of which she was a founding member.  She was dedicated to exercising 3 days a week, enjoyed breakfast at Route B, did thousands of Word Search puzzles, always drank coffee that was never hot enough, and took delight in her evening happy hour with the guys and anyone else who happened to stop in.

She was preceded in death by her husband Franklyn, parents JH and Bertha Bonen, brother Donald Bonen, sister Anna Mae Schlotzhauer and her husband Paul, and son in law Tom Witting. She is survived by her children Sherry (Gerry) Acay, Debbie Schuster, Donald (Jeanette) Esser, Mike (Georgia) Esser, Jeff (Lisa Lorenz) Esser, Cindy (Bruce) Gentry, Greg (Shelly) Esser and Lori Witting; 37 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren, sister Margie Myers and sister Grace (Roger) Chrisman.

To honor Norma’s devotion to her faith, memorial contributions may be made to SS Peter and Paul Catholic School in Boonville or St Joseph Catholic School in Pilot Grove. 

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