Norma left our Christian County Democratic community about 10 years ago to be with her family in California. She helped start the Democrat Club of Christian County, and served as Corresponding Secretary of both the Club and the Christian County Democratic Central Committee up until she moved to be with her family.

David Stokely (current CCDCC member and co-founder of the Democrat Club) summed up our feelings:

In the classic movie ‘The Sound of Music’ there was a scene where the nuns asked ‘How do you solve a problem like Maria?’ We have had a similar conundrum in how to describe our recently passed dear friend, Norma Moore. The picture of Norma astride a donkey during a Democrat fundraiser seems to distill her spirit. Feisty, a little unpredictable and utterly, mostly, adorable. You never knew what tricks she might have up her sleeve or what might come out of her mouth if you stepped out of bounds and broke the rules or stepped across the lines of Norma’s norms.
Norma's husband Richard passed away not many years before this picture. You could always count on this dynamic duo along with the Maples to be the foundation and workhorses of the Democrat Party in Christian County. Some of us remember when Jim Krieder was Democrat Speaker of the House in the Missouri Legislature and could attract a crowd of around a thousand in rural Christian County. These were truly the glory days and rested in no small part upon the shoulders of dedicated and hardworking folks like Norma and her band. They were around seemingly before memory doing the work and whatever was required to carry the flag for the cause.
Norma is likely not known by most on the CC Dem Central Committee or those of the CC Dem Club at present, but we all owe her a debt of gratitude. She was one of a kind.
In the photo is Norma Moore on the donkey and David (myself) in the race for Presiding Commissioner in 2004, the first of three runs for office in Christian County. Norma was like my second mother, working tirelessly for me personally and for all Democrats in Christian County. She will be missed by all of us that loved her spirit and feared her wrath.

Before Norma left our area, she asked me to take care of her scrapbook of Christian County Democratic activities and a file of minutes. I became the next Corresponding Secretary.

As Cheryl Holzapfel said to me, “She was our stalwart leader. She did the heartfelt hard work for Christian County Democrats.”

Cheryl also told a story of making cherry pies together and selling them at fundraisers making hundreds of dollars for our Democrats. “Norma was my best friend; there will never be another Norma—she was a Democrat until she died.”

Jim Billedo said of Norma: “She was a strong Democrat and worked diligently for all the Democrats in Missouri.”

Although I’ve tried to follow in her footsteps as Corresponding Secretary, I’m afraid Cheryl is right, “there will never be another Norma.”

— Polly C. Dross