Norma Irene Mittelstadt

Norma Irene Mittelstadt, 97, of Hampton, Iowa, passed away Monday, January 31, 2022, at Franklin General Hospital in Hampton, Iowa from complications of pneumonia. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 3, at the Sietsema-Atkinson Funeral Home in Hampton with burial in the Hampton Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Sietsema-Atkinson Funeral Home in Hampton.

She was born July 2, 1924, in Dows, Iowa, to William and Lexie (Nedrow) Wright. Norma graduated from Hampton High School in 1943. In 1944, she married her lifelong partner Orville Dean Mittelstadt, and to this union three daughters were born: Cathy, Nancy, and Lori.

She kept her hands busy. She was always on the go and usually exceeding the speed limit. She was tough, stubborn, independent, and downright cranky sometimes. She had a big heart and loved a good laugh.

Family was the most important thing to her and looked forward to watching grandkids sports and school events, family picnics and cookouts, birthdays, family reunions, and holidays. She had a passion for her Irish heritage and for all things Irish.
Norma and Orville loved to go camping with family and friends, spending countless summers around Iowa and several winters in the warmth of Harlingen, Texas.

Norma worked as a professional seamstress, crafting new clothing, and mending old favorites. She also sewed quilts, and pillows, made stuffed animals and bears, and doll clothes. On any given night, she passed time doing embroidery while watching western movies.

She found joy in her day-to-day activities. She was always active doing something around the house and in the yard, tending to her vegetable garden and flowers well into her 90’s. She loved feeding birds next to her high hedge of lilacs and watching them from her kitchen window, while enjoying the breeze through her back porch.

She was an amazing cook and effortlessly prepared meals for 25 or 30 people on holidays and birthdays. In the summer’s past, she would can jars of vegetables and sweet jams. She always had some delicious baked cookie or pie on her counter, ready to share when we stopped by to say hello. And when we left, she was always standing at her kitchen sink, waving good-bye to us from her window.

She was preceded in death by her husband Orville Mittelstadt, her daughter Cathy Numelin, her sons-in-law Roy Robertson and Orlin Numelin, her father William Wright, her mother Lexie (Nedrow) Wright, her paternal grandparents, William Arthur and Olive May (Fitzpatrick) Wright, and her maternal grandparents Riley Emmanuel Nedrow and Mary Emma (Skeels) Wynn.

Norma is survived by her daughters Nancy Robertson of Geneva, Iowa and Lori (Dan) Hubka of Sheffield, Iowa, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and a brother Neill (Jo) Wright of Hampton, Iowa.