Norman VeVea, Karlstad, MN, 90, passed away on Wednesday, July 28, 2021, at LifeCare Nursing Home, Roseau, MN.

The funeral service to celebrate Norm's life will be 11:00 am Wednesday August 4, 2021 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Thief River Falls, MN with Rev. Terri Cuppett officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service.  Burial at Greenwood Cemetery, Thief River Falls, MN with military honors provided by the Ecklund-Holmstrom American Legion Post 117 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2793.

Norman Francis VeVea was born February 9, 1931, at Crookston, MN, the son of Clarence Alfred and Helga Marie (Larson) VeVea.  He was baptized into a Norwegian Lutheran Congregation, August 21, 1931, and confirmed at United Lutheran Church, Grand Forks, ND, on April 14, 1946.  He attended Knox Elementary in Thief River Falls, MN, and Lincoln Junior High, Thief River Falls.  He graduated Central High School, Grand Forks, in 1949, then attended Moorhead State Teachers College from 1955-1956 and the University of North Dakota from 1956-1957.  His early employment began in Grand Forks, ND, in the warehouse of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and then Agsco Steel Building, where he labored on the cement crew.

Norman served his country with the United States Navy from 1951-1955.  He was with ZP-1 while stationed in Weeksville, NC, and VP-28, stationed at NAS Barbers Point, Oahu, HI, and NAS Kodiak Island, AK.   At the time of his honorable discharge, his rank was Aviation Electronics Tech (AT3).

On November 2, 1957, Norman was united in marriage to Betty Jane Kooyer. They were blessed with four daughters and one son.  After military service, Norman worked at Russell-Miller Milling, Grand Forks as a sweeper; IBM Corporation, Madison, WI as Customer Engineer; Emmitts Tire Supply, Grand Forks as a bookkeeper; Coca-Cola Bottling Co, Grand Forks in sales and service and then Bell & Howell in sales and service.

In 1965, Norman had back surgery which led to rehab and a move to Minneapolis, MN.  He attended Brown Institute in the Business Programming Course, which led to a career in the Electronic Data Processing field.  He then worked for Onan Inc. and Lindsey Bros. Plumbing and Farm Equipment, all in St. Paul, MN.  He also was employed with Western Oil/Conoco, Minneapolis, MN.  In 1968 it was back to North Dakota for Norman, where he worked at the University of North Dakota and United Hosptial.  In 1978 he worked at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Dakota. In 1975 he moved to Washington State and worked for the USPS Bulk Mail Center, Federal Way and PCMB Pierce County Medical Bureau, Tacoma, and then Northwestern Drug/ Whitmire, Auburn.

Norman enjoyed music, gardening, and reading.  He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Thief River Falls, and held membership with American Legion and VFW Clubs, both in Thief River Falls.

He is survived by children: Charlene Rene Byng, Puyallup, WA, Janine Paula Davidson, Victor, ID, and Anita Frances Anderson, Elko, MN; 6 grandchildren: Benjamin Davidson, Flagstaff, AZ, Jessica Davidson, Victor, ID, Lindsay Larsen, Puyallup, WA, Sean Larsen, Spokane Valley, WA, Kelsey Anderson, Elko, MN and Zachary VeVea, Elko, MN; 5 great-grandchildren: Jenna, Mason, Vivian, Aribella and Tatum; brother: Robin Lee VeVea, Mesa, AZ; 2 sisters: Darlene Marie Bibeau, Puyallup, WA and Bonne Kay VeVea-Smith, Redmond, WA.

Preceded in death by spouse, Betty on April 24, 2018; a son, William Norman; daughter, Linda Marie Wilharm, parents;  brother: Kenneth Lyle VeVea; and grandparents.

Family condolences may be sent to www.johnsonfuneralservice.com