Norma Jean(ne) Gore Bendure

My mother was born to Goldie Marie Austin Gore and Lawrence Madison Gore on September 17, 1937 in Pryor, Oklahoma.  She was the oldest of four (James Gordon, Marilyn Sue, and Cheryl Rene') who spent most of her young life taking care of them. 

Her parents ran a dairy farm in the country near Locust Grove, Oklahoma.  While her parents would take care of the cows and chickens, she would start breakfast for the family and make sure her siblings were fed and clothed for school.  Her brother Jim suffered from polio at a very early age (he was cared for in Tulsa at a location near what is now St. John's hospital) and her parents would take a long trip (crossing the river by ferry) to visit in Tulsa, leaving her with her paternal grandparents.  She often talked about staying with them and sharing Almond Joy candy bar's with her grandfather - even though he was a diabetic.  It also helped to make a strong family relation with her father's youngest sister, Dorcus Bernice.

Norma's father sang in the Hogan Gospel Quartet and she would often get out of school to play piano for the group at funerals, replacing her cousin Joanne while she was in college.  (The Quartet had a radio show on Pryor's radio station on the weekends.) Upon graduating from high school, Norma attended beauty college in Muskogee, Oklahoma then came back to Locust Grove and worked in her aunt's (Opal Campbell) beauty shop.

She met her husband, James, while hanging out with girlfriends in Pryor.  They married at the Locust Grove First United Methodist Church on September 19, 1959.  James worked pipeline, was a radio dj at the Pryor radio station, and briefly went to college at Northeastern State in Tahlequah.  (More to come on James on next blog)  Their first child, Jamie, was born July 20, 1960 in Kingwood, West Virginia.  They traveled the country doing pipeline work until Jamie began school in Pryor, Oklahoma.  In December of 1966, James accepted a job for Vedal Pipeline in Mt. Vernon, Illinios and the small family moved.

Norma never went back to work formally, although being a housewife was intense work itself.  Their second child, Robert Duane, was born October 17, 1967.  They continued to live in Mt. Vernon until 1972 when they moved to Chouteau, Oklahoma, where they continue to live.

Norma has often been a caretaker for others.  She took care of her sister Rene' when she developed cancer.  She took care of her mother in her final days.  She and her husband helped take care of her daughter when she had a heart transplant at age 44.  Never intending to become a nurse/caretaker, she handled each situation with earnest and care.