Norma Hall Bowman, 93, of La Crescenta, California passed away on October 30, 2014, in Glendale, California.

Norma Smith Hall was born in Mound City, Missouri on March 18, 1921 to parents Clarence and Helen Hall. In 1933, due to the Depression and the Dustbowl, the family moved to California. They arrived on New Year's Day and rented a little house in South Pasadena. Norma was 12 years old and started South Pasadena Junior High. She remembered the school as huge, spread out over a large area and getting lost trying to find her classes. A big change from little Mound City, Missouri. Her favorite subject was mathematics and she excelled in geometry. At SPHS Norma still enjoyed math. She always enjoyed music and at the high school, she joined the music program. She played alto saxophone both in the school orchestra and the marching band. The band played at every football game, and the school put on a lot of concerts. Once a year the high school band performed at Long Beach City Auditorium and afterwards the music students went to the Long Beach Pike - an amusement park on the waterfront. Norma marched in the Rose Parade in 1938 and 1939.

Norma graduated in June 1939, and then entered Pasadena Business College.  There, Norma took accounting. Before completing the program, she got a job as cashier at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Glendale. Throughout her life she worked as an accountant and bookkeeper for several small businesses. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. was situated on the fourth floor of the Bank of America building and on the ground floor, in the lobby there was a little cantina selling sodas, cigarettes, and candy. This was the meeting place for all the workers in the building. Norma met one of the bank tellers, Bill Bowman in February 1941. They married in August 1941 and had two boys. Bill and Norma were married for 71 years until Bill's death in 2012. Norma was active in the PTA and Cub Scouts when her boys were young.

Throughout her life, Norma always had a dog or two. She also enjoyed gardening and travelling. Norma and Bill celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by taking a train trip all around the continental United States. Norma embraced social networking, keeping in touch with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren through email and Facebook and Skype.

Norma is survived by her two sons, Ross William Bowman and Chris Alexander Bowman, their families and her friends.