Norma Jean Sherwood

Norma Jean Sherwood, age 78 years of Niles, Michigan died peacefully Thursday morning, December 28, 2017 at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka, Indiana following and extended illness.

She was born on August 29, 1939 in Berrien Springs, Michigan to Richard John and Ruth Amelia (Hendershott) Bedell. She was graduated from Niles High School with the first class to graduate from the new school. She was employed for many years in the offices of the former Niles store of Montgomery-Wards, and has lived in Niles all of her life.

She was a member of the Mapleview Free Methodist Church in Niles, and of the Fort Saint Joseph Historical Society and the Saint Joseph Valley Old Engine Association. She volunteered for many years in the entries office of the Berrien County Youth Fair. She enjoyed practicing homemaking skills - as a seamstress, making clothing for her family – and as a baker, baking bread and pies, and the annual Christmas Cookie baking marathon. She also enjoyed camping with her family in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

On June 22, 1957 in Niles she married Walter Howard Sherwood with whom she celebrated the forty-sixth anniversary of their wedding prior to his death on August 28, 2003. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Ruth and Richard Bedell, and by two brothers, Dennis Bedell on November 2, 2008 and Richard Bedell on May 10, 1992

Surviving family includes her children, Susan (& Stephen Gruber, Jr.) Sherwood, Barbara (& Robert) Passig, and Tim (& Mitzi) Sherwood, all of Niles; grandchildren Levi Passig, Adam Passig, Brittney Passig, and Ryan (& Angie) Sherwood; great-granddaughter, Amelia; and Norma’s sister, Kathy (& Gary) Luster of Niles and several nieces and nephews.

Services for Norma Sherwood will be at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 30, 2017 at the Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home in Niles with Pastor Greg Rensberry of Mapleview Free Methodist Church officiating. The family will receive relatives and friends on Saturday, at the funeral home, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

Contributions in memory of Norma may be made to the Mapleview Free Methodist Church, 1837 Niles-Buchanan Road, Niles, MI 49120; or to the Berrien County Youth Fair Premium Fund, 9122 US 31, Berrien Springs, MI 49103. Online condolences may be left at:

www.halbritterwickens.com