Norma Vest (Buffalo)'s Obituary
Norma Arlene (Brown ) Vest, 85, of Buffalo, Missouri departed this life on March 20, 2024, on the family farm, with her daughters by her side. She was born November 8, 1938, in Aledo, Illinois to Maynard and Ada (Clark) Brown and was a devoted sister to Mary Lee, Lloyd, Dorothy, Wayne, and Gail. She was close to her siblings and deeply loved them, their spouses, and their children. Norma was a 1957 graduate of Northwestern High School in Mendon, Missouri. After high school, she took the train to Kansas City where she found a job at Hallmark. It was while working at Hallmark that she met the force of nature known as Billy Dale Vest, who became her husband on May 12, 1958. From this marriage came three feisty daughters, Pam, Kim, and Lisa. Bill and Norma moved to Buffalo to the Vest family farm in 1968 where they raised their family. She spent time working at both Sears and Key, where she formed many friendships. Norma was a devout follower of Christ, she dearly loved her church and led her family to do the same.
The author of this writing is the oldest of Norma’s granddaughters, and while I cannot fully speak to what she was like in many of the roles she filled in the lives of so many, I do consider myself an expert on how well she loved her family and would like to share a little of the love she gave to us with you. Grandma has had several different names as we grew up and it has changed as we have added kids to the family. She has been Mom, Grandma Lisa, Sweet Grandma, Mama’s Grandma, and just our sweet little grams over the years. She was the teller of great stories while snuggled up to her in bed at night, the singer of many silly songs, the maker of warm homemade Play-Doh, and the provider of ‘snack packs’ for our drives home after visiting. She was the one who taught us how to feed a calf, clean a chicken, grow a garden, and gather and sell walnuts to make Christmas money. She never shied away from an opportunity to jump-scare us with a silly Halloween mask or shield us from Papa’s scratchy whisker-filled kisses when he would have us squealing and running because he was smelly from the dairy barn. She was the best at nursing you back to health with pallets on the sofa, comfort food, and Young and The Restless if you were too sick for school. She was over the moon when her first great-granddaughter was born on her oldest daughter’s birthday, showed up at the hospital in complete disbelief that our family had a boy when my son was born, helped me with my colicky third baby, and lived for visits and Facetime calls from our newest four little boys. She always made sure all of the babies were plenty warm with socks on their feet and forever wished Papa could have met our four littlest fellas. She loved school, learning, and reading, and she spent a lot of time volunteering to read to little ones. In turn, she managed to raise a family of avid readers and strong advocates of education. She was kind, fair, loving, and compassionate.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Maynard and Ada Brown, her sisters, Mary Lee and Dorothy, her three brothers, Lloyd, Gail, and Wayne, and her son-in-law, Rick Cochran. She is survived by her daughters Pam Cochran of West Plains, MO, Kim Vest and partner Cyndy Hoffman (Norma’s honorary fourth daughter) of Buffalo, MO, and Lisa Vest of Springfield, MO. Granddaughters Brandi Brunson and husband Jacob, Brittney Long and husband Jake, and Becca Ray and husband Josh. And seven great-grandbabies: Ciara, Brandt and Avery Brunson, J Henry and Jack Long, and Oleah and Graham Ray. She leaves behind an extended family of many who loved her and a lifetime of friends who meant so much to her.
Our family has lost its matriarch, our mom, our grandma, and our provider of humor and quick-witted comments. We will forever feel this loss in our hearts. But, we are comforted to know she’s reunited with Papa and her parents, and we fully expect her brothers to already be pulling pranks on her in Heaven. She will live on in us, and we will do our very best to make her proud each and every day.
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