Norma Tisdel Graham, 90

Norma Tisdel Graham, 90, was "united with her Lord" Nov. 25, 2012. She passed away peacefully with family by her side at Immanuel Lutheran Home, Kalispell.  

 She was preceded in death by her husband, Lyle Graham, her parents, Alice and Ingvold Tisdel and her brother, Lyle Tisdel.

 Norma told her life story to her son, who recounts it from her point of view here: “Montana was called the bread basket of the West, a land of great opportunities! So the government and the railroads advertised. My mom and dad moved to Montana to make a good living at farming. I was born in a sod house near Winifred on June 18, 1922; that was when Montana was entering into a long drought period and many people lost their farms and had to leave the state. After several years of trying unsuccessfully to make ends meet, my parents moved to Sinai, S.D. My dad was killed shortly thereafter in an ice house accident and my school teacher mom became destitute. I was farmed out to my grumpy aunts and uncles until I was old enough to work for room and board in Madison where I worked my way though high school. Life was a series of hard knocks. But as Churchill said, ‘Never give in, never, never, never.’

“When I was 19, I moved to California to find work and adventure. And I did. I got a job doing photo color touch ups. I met a handsome and debonair man named Lyle Graham in 1941, and we were married four months later. At that time he was a tool and die maker at Vultee’s Aircraft factory in Los Angeles. After Pearl Harbor he signed up and became a fighter pilot and ended up training in some of the planes that he may have worked on.

“When my husband was in flight training during World War II he took me up in his trainer and scared the living day lights out of me with rolls and loops!  I never went up with him again.

“After the war we settled down. My husband became a building contractor and we had two sons, Michael and Robin. We were both hard workers and we started to build our lives together. Life was good.

“Lyle thought I should go to real estate school, so I had to ride a bus to downtown L.A., which I was not very happy about, but as I look back on that decision, it turned out for the best and I did very well in real estate.

“I never had much experience with water and when my husband came to me one day and told me he had sold our business and bought a 36-foot sail boat, I about fainted. But I felt a strong need to take care of my family, so I shipped aboard the Golden Hind for a 13-month cruise through the South Pacific. I cannot say it was the best experience of my life but we all got home safely, so I was very thankful for that.

“The worst period in my life was when Michael was fighting in the jungles of Vietnam and Robin was sailing alone around the world, and not knowing if either would come back home alive.”

Norma is survived by her two sons, Michael Graham and his partner Mary Ann of Silverdale, Wash., and Robin Graham and his wife Patti of Somers; three grandchildren, Quimby Wilson and her husband Doug of Newport, Ore., Benjamin Graham and his wife Maggie of Somers, and Jenilee Finley and her husband Russell of Seattle; and six great-grandchildren, Luke, Isaiah and Annika Wilson, Maya and Toviah Graham and Lila Finley.

 A memorial service for Norma will be held in the near future.

 We would like to thank all the staff at Immanuel Lutheran Home for their wonderful care and support of mom.