IONA JOYCE PRUITT NORMAN CELEBRATES 96TH BIRTHDAY
Ms. Iona Joyce Pruitt Norman, wife of the late Mr. Verbe Norman, and mother of Verlene Norman Houston and Jacquelyn Norman Anderson, turned 96 years old and was recently given a SURPRISE 96th birthday party at the Holiday Inn Express in Desoto, Texas that was hosted by her two of her granddaughters, Mrs. Sha Reese Houston-Motley of Houston, TX and Mrs. Shawnkeedra Houston-Martin of Lancaster and assisted by her daughter, Verlene Norman Houston. She thought that she was going to her nephew Alvin Collins (son of the late Enola Collins) wedding anniversary. She was just in SHOCK when she walked in and saw over 205 grandchildren, neices, nephews, cousins, friends, former pastors, etc. from places all over the United States that she had not seen in years, such as Oregon, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Louisiana and many many cities in the state of Texas. The Pleasant Hill Quilting Club carried a whole “boat load full” of friends, etc.
Ms. Norman comes from a family of 14 siblings and she is the ONLY one left. Each sibling was shown in the slide show with a niece or nephew giving a brief talk about each one. She always says she has seen 15 of her family members pass on with the inclusion of her mother and father Austin and Corean Pruitt. Ms. Norman has 2 children, 5 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.
The Mistresses of Ceremony were Sha Reese Houston-Motley, Shawnkeedra Houston-Martin and Verlene Norman Houston. Greeting was given by Sha Reese, Poem by Verlene and Prayer and Grace by Rev. Paul Mack. During the program the following people were recognized: Her nieces, nephews, grandchildren, great grandchildren, former students, pastors, cousins, friends, Pleasant Hill Quilting Club, the person(s) that traveled the farthest and people who might live in other cities or states, but were originally from Linden, TX.
There was a video presentation of Mrs. Norman and all of her siblings from back in the day. She was presented with flowers from her great grandchildren, a plaque from the Fairview Corporaton, presented by Mack Davis, a plaque from the Pleasant Hill Quilting Club, presented by Flo Stevenson, presentation for former students, by Robbie Owens Fields. Her first dance was with her grandsons and great grandsons, Jeremy Anderson, Jonathan Anderson, Ja Kurstain Anderson and Sterling Houston-Motley. There was a dance at the very end of the program.
Inside the cover of the program were 46 things listed that you might not know about the honoree, just to name a few: She taught school in Sudan, Douglassville and Linden, TX, was an avid basketball player (Forward), made basketball uniforms for Macedonia Elementary School in Linden, TX and some of the cheerleader uniforms for Ball High School in Seguin, TX, Oldest member of the Macedonia Baptist Church, was the announcing clerk for Macedonia Baptist Church, Oldest member of the Pleasant Hill Quilting Club, favorite song is: I am On the Battlefield for My Lord, favorite blues song is: “At Last” by Etta James, loves to dance and tell jokes, was married for 66 years to Verbe Norman, still has a valid Driver’s License, killed a snake that was 6 feet long with a rifle (that was shown in the slide show), does not take ANY medications (baby aspirin) would talk to a sidewalk if the sidewalk would talk back to her, favorite color is lavender, favorite food is friend chicken wings, favorite dessert is peach cobbler, born again Christian and loves the Lord with all of her heart and is absolutely loved by all who know her and she never meets a stranger, etc., etc., etc.
The birthday party was a success and enjoyed by all. She says she is ready for another party.
