Norma M. Tvedte, daughter of Orville and Palma (Ouverson) Solmonson, was born on July 28, 1930 in Estherville, Iowa. She passed away on December 25, 2022 at Aspire Nursing Home in Lake Park, Iowa at the age of 92.
Norma was raised on a farm east of Estherville, and graduated from Dolliver High School where she met the love of her life, Hans Tvedte, Jr. The couple was married in Fairmont, Minnesota, on June 12, 1948, and shortly thereafter moved to Estherville. In 1958 the family moved to Iowa City where Hans enrolled in dental school. While in Iowa City Norma raised her young family, sold Avon, and worked at the Hospital School for Handicapped Children. After Hans graduated in 1965, they returned to Estherville where he opened a dental office. In 1973 they relocated to Orange City, Iowa. Norma opened her first Turn of the Century House store in 1975 where she sold gifts and needlecraft. Her business strengths were merchandising and customer/employee relationships. She had stores in Spirit Lake, Orange City, and Sioux City for 30 years. Norma moved to Spirit Lake following the death of her husband in 2015 to be near her family.
Norma and Hans relished summers at their cottage on Spirit Lake hosting family and friends. Travels to Norway, Kauai, Florida, and Alaska were treasured and remembered. She enjoyed trips to market with her daughter to Minneapolis and North Carolina to find new items for the shop. Cooking and playing cribbage with Hans were special activities. Norma was an avid sports fan…her favorite teams were the Iowa Hawkeyes and Minnesota Twins
Left to cherish her memory are her four children, Steven (Vicki) Tvedte, Susan Reuter, David Tvedte, and John (Ann) Tvedte; five grandchildren Mark (Melissa), Eric (Zoey), Karl, Matthew, and Karina; great-grandchildren Abigail, Charlotte, Emily, and Ansel; a brother Alan (Mary Ann) Solmonson, and many nieces and nephews.
Preceding Norma in death were her parents, her husband, and her sister Shirley (Ernest) Wentzel.
Online condolences may be left for Norma’s Family at HenryOlsonFuneral.com
