August 18, 1927 - February 22, 2021
Norma Lee Boslough died peacefully, surrounded by family, on February 22, 2021 in her room at the Memory Care unit of Bonaventure of Thornton, Colorado, after a long, adventurous, and rewarding life filled with love and joy.
She was born Norma Lee Gallup on August 18, 1927 in Fairfield, Iowa. She had a happy childhood growing up on a farm and walking every morning through pastures to the one-room Liberty School near Libertyville. Norma graduated from Fairfield High School in 1945 and stayed in touch with classmates throughout her life. She continued her education at Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls where she met her husband Bruce shortly after the end of WWII. After her first year of teaching in Libertyville, she took the train to Boulder with girlfriends to see Bruce, then a student at CU, in the Spring of 1948. She and her friends rented an apartment and supported themselves by working as waitresses at the Sink. Bruce courted Norma by driving her around in the mountains, something she loved to do for the rest of her life. They were married on June 4th, 1949 and shared 33 wonderful years together. They started their family in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Parsons, Kansas before settling in Broomfield in 1960.
Norma worked as a lunch lady at Broomfield Junior High school before returning to school at Colorado State College (now University of Northern Colorado) in Greeley. She made the long round-trip commute daily for two years while also raising three children. After graduating with a four-year degree, she returned to teaching at Fitzmorris Elementary school in Arvada, teaching 5th-graders (her favorite age group) until she retired in 1987, five years after losing Bruce. She never slowed down in retirement, joining the Indian Peaks Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society in Boulder where she made new friends who introduced her to the annual Pecos Conference, a social, educational and camping event held throughout the Southwest that she attended as often as she could until 2018. She had boundless energy, traveling to many countries with Elderhostel. In between travel adventures, Norma was active in a Broomfield bridge group that played together monthly for over 40 years (she and Bruce were a formidable team). She was an active member of the Broomfield United Methodist Church, as were her dearest and longest friends.
Norma was a loving, caring, and patient friend, sibling, cousin, aunt, wife, mother, grandmother, and GG (great-grandmother). She brought positive energy and joy to all of her endeavors and impacted many through unselfish acts, good deeds, a gentle smile, and un-matched pie baking. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bruce Boslough; mother, Jessie Gallup; father, Lee Gallup; sister, Helen Fulton; brother, Elden Gallup and great-grand son, Kevin Harris. Norma is survived by son Al and his wife Pat; son Mark and his wife Yvonne; and daughter Janet and her husband Mike. She leaves behind her grandchildren Nicki, Sarah, Dwayne, Jeff, Kim, Casey, Nicole, Kerry, Tyler, and Kobie, and great grandchildren Leandra, Falan, Farrah, Maya, and Coral (who was born last November and got hugs from her GG just before Christmas). Norma loved her family more than anything else. Even as she was preparing for the biggest travel adventure of her life, to India, Nepal, China, and Korea (at age 72), the last entry in her diary before heading to the airport was “A busy but easy day. 7 p.m. I’m off for my adventure! I love you, my wonderful children & grandchildren.” She returned safely the following month and the family she loved didn’t see her diary farewell until now. Norma was loved and will be missed by countless friends and relatives who will never let her endearing spirit fade.
A reception and open house celebration of Norma’s life will be held on Saturday, April 10 from 2-7 p.m. at Rundus Funeral Home, 1998 W. 10th Ave in Broomfield, CO.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (website: act.alz.org).
