Norma Jean Mattson

Norma Jean Mattson of Santa Ynez, California, passed away following a brief illness on December 10 with her daughter Michele at her side. She was 92.

Norma Jean was born in Askov, Minnesota, on March 28, 1926, to her parents, Peder and Marie Miltersen, who lived on a small farm north of town. She was the second of their three children.

While growing up in Askov, she attended a one-room schoolhouse for her elementary school years and later graduated from Askov High. There were only six students in her graduating class due to the ongoing Second World War.

Norma Jean married Norman Mattson in 1944 and they lived on his parents' farm for the first few years of their married life. While Norman worked on the farm, Norma worked at the local newspaper, "The Askov American."

In 1946, Norman and Norma became parents for the first time when daughter Linda was born. In 1951, a son, Douglas, joined the family.

In 1952, the couple moved their small family to Santa Ynez where Norma worked alongside her husband on the Jacobsen Dairy on Baseline Avenue. She also during this time began a 25-year career as a nurse's aide at the Santa Ynez Valley Hospital and later at the Solvang Recovery Residence. Their final child, Michele, was born in 1956 in Santa Barbara.

When the family moved back to the midwest in 1966 and purchased a 160-acre dairy farm, Norma Jean continued working in the medical field at Riverview Hospital in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

After three years in Wisconsin, the harsh winters brought Norman and Norma back to Santa Ynez. Norma resumed working at the Solvang Recovery Residence until 1984 when she suffered a debilitating stroke at the age of 58.

Although her right arm was partially paralyzed and she was left with a severe speech deficit, Norma Jean returned to her home from rehab and continued to be active in her church and volunteered for the Meals-On-Wheels program for many years.

In 1993, her husband of 49 years died suddenly, but Norma Jean continued to live independently at her home in Santa Ynez and later in Solvang. She was a pioneering member of the Mormon Church in Solvang and was a member there from the mid 1950s until her death. She enjoyed working in the church's library and on her geneology projects. She also loved music. She was a self-taught pianist and had a beautiful singing voice.

Norma was preceded in death by her parents, Peder and Marie Miltersen, husband Norman, sister Hazel Serritslev and brother Darwin Miltersen and grandson Derek Page. She leaves behind her three children, Linda Meehan of Redlands, California, Douglas Mattson of Frenchtown, Montana, and Michele McNeil of Santa Ynez, California. She has two grandchildren, Stephen Page and Tina Ellsworth, and seven great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2627 Janin Way, Solvang, California, on Saturday, December 15, 2018, at 10 a.m., followed by a private burial at Oakhill Cemetery in Ballard.