Obituary of Norma Elizabeth Diggs

Norma Elizabeth Norton Diggs (Norma), age 92, residing in Chapel Hill, NC (formerly from Sioux City, Iowa), passed away peacefully on December 18, 2019 at UNC Hospice in Pittsboro, NC. Norma was born on the plains of South Dakota in the community of Lucas in Gregory County on April 30, 1927 to her parents John Charles Norton and Arnetta Emaline Mummert Norton and her elder brother John. Later, her family moved to Sioux City, Iowa where they were joined by the births of three more sisters Viola, Leora, and Louise. Louise Trice of Sioux City is the sole surviving sister of Norma. She graduated from Central High School in Sioux City, and at a USO dance, met James (Jim) Henry Diggs, a young Army airman in training to be a B-29 mechanic for the invasion of Japan. After Jim’s yearlong deployment in occupied Japan ended, they were reunited and married on November 13, 1946, where she packed her belongings to move near Chapel Hill in Chatham County, North Carolina and started to build a new life on a chicken and tobacco farm. Fortunately for Norma and all the people she met, she brought her mid-western warmth and bottomless love with her. She never met a stranger and was always very thoughtful of people and worked to include people in her life. They raised four sons, James Henry Diggs III, John Charles Diggs, Fred Edgar Diggs, and William Louis Diggs who brought four daughters home, Jo Anne Park Diggs, Barbara Reeves, Chris Yeager Diggs, and Catherine Jean Diggs. Seven grandchildren, Jamey Anne Croft, Evan Diggs(deceased), Brynn Diggs, Galen Diggs, Jonathan Diggs, Katherine Diggs, and Timothy Diggs. They also have two great-grandchildren, Riley Croft and Grayson Diggs. Besides working tirelessly on the farm, Norma also spent twenty-five years with the Correspondence Education Department in various administrative assistance roles with UNC. After retirement from UNC, Norma and Jim spent a number of years traveling the country in their motor home to enjoy the great beauty of our land and do much genealogy research. They always had time for church and the many missions and suppers Mt Carmel has offered over the years and she always enjoyed her crafts of basket making, quilting, crocheting, and the many years of square dancing with the Square Heels club in Chapel Hill. A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 28, 2 PM at Mt Carmel Church. A reception and family visitation in the fellowship hall will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations should be made for the construction of a columbarium at Mt Carmel cemetery. Walker's Funeral Home of Chapel Hill has been entrusted to care for Norma's family.