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Dena Van Norman Obituary
September 4, 1952 - November 6, 2025
Dena Van Norman, 73, of Pismo Beach, passed away peacefully on November 6, 2025, surrounded by the family who loved her deeply. Born in Salinas, CA, she later moved to Santa Maria, where she met the love of her life, Ned. Both Santa Maria High School graduates, they married young on July 31, 1971, beginning a lifelong partnership filled with devotion and adventure.
The two later graduated from Allan Hancock College, and Cal Poly SLO and after Ned earned his dental degree from the University of the Pacific, they settled into their forever home in Pismo Beach, CA where they built a life rich in friendship, family, and in 1988, they welcome their daughter, Kely. Becoming a mother was Dena's most cherished and defining role. Her strength and unwavering love as a mom deepened even further following Ned's passing in 1992, where she found balance raising her daughter with the same compassion, resilience, and steadiness that defined her life and still found time to complete her Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of Laverne.
Dena then spent the next 35 years teaching in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, where her gentle guidance and generous heart shaped thousands of young lives - building a classroom that reflected the warmth she brought to everyone who knew her.
Following her retirement in 2019, Dena found her greatest joy in her three grandchildren, cherishing every moment with them and filling their lives with the same love and light she shared with the world up to her last days of her life.
She is lovingly survived by her daughter, Kely Blackburn, son-in-law Evan Blackburn, and her treasured grandchildren-Laine, Brooks, and Blakely-who were her pride, her joy, and her greatest blessing, and nephew, Dillon McGill.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations in her honor to Woods Humane Society or Santa Barbara Humane Society, honoring Dena's lifelong love of animals.
Visit www.dudleyhoffmanmortuary.com to leave a condolence for the family.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
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Funeral services provided by:
Dudley-Hoffman Mort, Crematory & Memory Gardens1003 E Stowell Rd P.O. Box 248, Santa Maria, CA 93454
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