Norman Lee Westerbeck, a military veteran, gourmet cook, gardener, a stylish dresser, golfer, fisherman, coin collector, watcher of sports, jokester, a ladies’ man and known to be stubborn at times, passed away on Friday, October 23, 2020 in Turlock, California.
Norman (Norm) was born on the 308th day of 1944 at 10:55 pm. It was the 44th Friday of that year (November 3, 1944), he was anything but ordinary. Norm was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to his loving parents Mary Hannah Westerbeck and Norman “Steve” Joseph Westerbeck. Truth be known “Steve” wasn’t fond of the name Norman for some reason and always gave Mary a bad time about it. His mother would call Norm, “Tater” and “Ockie”.
Norm was loved by many of his New London Tiger Classmates (Class of 1963) and stayed in touch with many of them until his passing. He was remembered as, handsome, a great athlete, ladies’ man and a jokester all through his youth which described a portion of who he was all his life. After graduating high school, Norm joined the US Air Force. He served overseas during the Vietnam War. Norm never spoke about the war much, other than he loved helping the soldiers by cooking special dishes for them, he was an amazing cook. Oh, there were stories but not about the actual War. His Air Force buddies called him, “Stormin’ Norman”.
Throughout the years, Norm was known for his signature roasts, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners, his ribs and sauerkraut, and homemade fudge. He would always point out which vegetables were used from his garden to accompany one of his amazing meals. I’m not sure but he must have used steroids in his garden because his garden would generate huge vegetables! When asked where the recipe was for his signature dishes, he always pointed to his head with a grin. Not only did he love to cook, he loved to eat.
Norm had a life-long love affair with Sterzing’s Potato Chips, his daughter’s potato salad, devil’s food cake, pork tenderloin sandwiches’ and any chocolate that he could get his hands on. As a point of pride, he alleged to remember every single bag of Sterzing’s eaten in his 75 years of life.
Norm always dressed and smelled his best for every occasion. Even though, jokingly, people would point out that an article of clothing went out of style, he would retire the piece of clothing but never throw it away. I’m sure that he owned over a 100 pair of glasses, 200 hats, 5,000 pieces of clothing and what seemed like 10,000 pairs of shoes, some of which he never wore but had to have. He always looked polished! He was the best person to go shopping with as he never seemed to tire from shopping (a lady’s dream).
The women in his life were numerous. He loved his mom Mary, his sister Joyce, his daughter Wendy, Anita Trigo and Whitney Martinez just to name a few. Norm had one tattoo (N.L.W.) on his upper arm. When asked about his tattoo, that he got while serving in the military, he would always say that it stood for, “Never Love Women”. Truth is, it was his initials and he was pressured to get. He just loved to love women.
Over his lifetime, Norm was interested in history. He loved learning about his family’s history and the history of wherever he traveled to. Norm also collected currency, coins mostly (new & old). He loved the history behind each coin. He often wondered who had owned the coins before and where the coins had been. Norm loved spending time with his grandson, Nicholas, from the time he was little, taking him to specialty shops on the lookout for their next treasure. They would spend time buying, researching and discussing everything that was purchased or what they still needed to find.
Norm always found joy in golfing and fishing, as he enjoyed the outdoors. Throughout the years, he would always make time to enjoy the two sports he loved the most. Norm loved to golf and spent time golfing with his son-in-law Buster and his wonderful friends Tony and Anthony, which were like family to him. In his early golf years, Norm skipped work one time to golf. At that time, he was working for his father-in-law. During the golf game he was hit on the forehead with a golf ball. He was okay but had to come up with a story as to why he had a large knot on his forehead the next day at work. I’m sure Norm had a cleaver excuse. Norm loved to golf sometimes making his own rules, pointing up to the sky and saying, “look, a dead bird” so he could move his ball a little closer to the hole. Norm always had time to fish. He taught his kids how to fish, that included setting up their poles, baiting their hooks and cleaning the fish (yuck)! He would say, “If you are going to catch it, you are going to have to clean it”. Throughout his life he went on many fishing trips with his daughter, Wendy and his extended family (Tony, Anthony and Whitney). While fishing one day, he caught a fish that was the size of his thumb. When asked what that was, he said, “I didn’t catch that, that’s my bait”.
Norm was a huge sports fan. He loved his Iowa Hawkeyes, Oakland Raiders, Oakland A’s and Golden State Warriors. He would proudly represent each team’s logo. Norm loved sports so much that when his grandson Nicholas was growing up, he would root him on and tell him stories of when he played during his younger years. Once during a parent teacher conference, the teacher told his daughter Wendy that Nicholas was so excited and proud of his Grandpa. Nicholas had told her and everyone in the school that his Grandpa played baseball with Ray Charles! She then said, “You know Ray was blind”?
Most of all, Norm was a very giving person. If it wasn’t gifting to family and friends, he would gift to random people in need. Norm was of Christian faith.
As you can tell, this is no ordinary obituary as Norm was not ordinary but extraordinary. Norm was bigger than life! I could go on and on. As you loved and adored him, he loved and adored you so much more.
Along with his parents, Norm was preceded in death by his brother Dickie Westerbeck and his sister Joyce Staley, which he adored.
Norm leaves behind his loving daughter Wendy (Buster) Crabb, his son Christopher Westerbeck and his daughter Deborah (David) Hartenstein, his brothers Mark (Nell) Westerbeck, Mike (Joyce) Westerbeck and his brother-in-law, Frank Staley. He also leaves behind five loving grandchildren and one great grandson, his beloved dog, Jack, nephews and nieces as well as his extended family whom he loved and they loved very much (The Trigo’s – Tony, Anita, Anthony, Whitney, Rafaela, Briana).
Services for Norm will be held in New London, Iowa at a later date
Adapted from Turlock Funeral Home obituary.
Norman (Norm) was born on the 308th day of 1944 at 10:55 pm. It was the 44th Friday of that year (November 3, 1944), he was anything but ordinary. Norm was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to his loving parents Mary Hannah Westerbeck and Norman “Steve” Joseph Westerbeck. Truth be known “Steve” wasn’t fond of the name Norman for some reason and always gave Mary a bad time about it. His mother would call Norm, “Tater” and “Ockie”.
Norm was loved by many of his New London Tiger Classmates (Class of 1963) and stayed in touch with many of them until his passing. He was remembered as, handsome, a great athlete, ladies’ man and a jokester all through his youth which described a portion of who he was all his life. After graduating high school, Norm joined the US Air Force. He served overseas during the Vietnam War. Norm never spoke about the war much, other than he loved helping the soldiers by cooking special dishes for them, he was an amazing cook. Oh, there were stories but not about the actual War. His Air Force buddies called him, “Stormin’ Norman”.
Throughout the years, Norm was known for his signature roasts, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners, his ribs and sauerkraut, and homemade fudge. He would always point out which vegetables were used from his garden to accompany one of his amazing meals. I’m not sure but he must have used steroids in his garden because his garden would generate huge vegetables! When asked where the recipe was for his signature dishes, he always pointed to his head with a grin. Not only did he love to cook, he loved to eat.
Norm had a life-long love affair with Sterzing’s Potato Chips, his daughter’s potato salad, devil’s food cake, pork tenderloin sandwiches’ and any chocolate that he could get his hands on. As a point of pride, he alleged to remember every single bag of Sterzing’s eaten in his 75 years of life.
Norm always dressed and smelled his best for every occasion. Even though, jokingly, people would point out that an article of clothing went out of style, he would retire the piece of clothing but never throw it away. I’m sure that he owned over a 100 pair of glasses, 200 hats, 5,000 pieces of clothing and what seemed like 10,000 pairs of shoes, some of which he never wore but had to have. He always looked polished! He was the best person to go shopping with as he never seemed to tire from shopping (a lady’s dream).
The women in his life were numerous. He loved his mom Mary, his sister Joyce, his daughter Wendy, Anita Trigo and Whitney Martinez just to name a few. Norm had one tattoo (N.L.W.) on his upper arm. When asked about his tattoo, that he got while serving in the military, he would always say that it stood for, “Never Love Women”. Truth is, it was his initials and he was pressured to get. He just loved to love women.
Over his lifetime, Norm was interested in history. He loved learning about his family’s history and the history of wherever he traveled to. Norm also collected currency, coins mostly (new & old). He loved the history behind each coin. He often wondered who had owned the coins before and where the coins had been. Norm loved spending time with his grandson, Nicholas, from the time he was little, taking him to specialty shops on the lookout for their next treasure. They would spend time buying, researching and discussing everything that was purchased or what they still needed to find.
Norm always found joy in golfing and fishing, as he enjoyed the outdoors. Throughout the years, he would always make time to enjoy the two sports he loved the most. Norm loved to golf and spent time golfing with his son-in-law Buster and his wonderful friends Tony and Anthony, which were like family to him. In his early golf years, Norm skipped work one time to golf. At that time, he was working for his father-in-law. During the golf game he was hit on the forehead with a golf ball. He was okay but had to come up with a story as to why he had a large knot on his forehead the next day at work. I’m sure Norm had a cleaver excuse. Norm loved to golf sometimes making his own rules, pointing up to the sky and saying, “look, a dead bird” so he could move his ball a little closer to the hole. Norm always had time to fish. He taught his kids how to fish, that included setting up their poles, baiting their hooks and cleaning the fish (yuck)! He would say, “If you are going to catch it, you are going to have to clean it”. Throughout his life he went on many fishing trips with his daughter, Wendy and his extended family (Tony, Anthony and Whitney). While fishing one day, he caught a fish that was the size of his thumb. When asked what that was, he said, “I didn’t catch that, that’s my bait”.
Norm was a huge sports fan. He loved his Iowa Hawkeyes, Oakland Raiders, Oakland A’s and Golden State Warriors. He would proudly represent each team’s logo. Norm loved sports so much that when his grandson Nicholas was growing up, he would root him on and tell him stories of when he played during his younger years. Once during a parent teacher conference, the teacher told his daughter Wendy that Nicholas was so excited and proud of his Grandpa. Nicholas had told her and everyone in the school that his Grandpa played baseball with Ray Charles! She then said, “You know Ray was blind”?
Most of all, Norm was a very giving person. If it wasn’t gifting to family and friends, he would gift to random people in need. Norm was of Christian faith.
As you can tell, this is no ordinary obituary as Norm was not ordinary but extraordinary. Norm was bigger than life! I could go on and on. As you loved and adored him, he loved and adored you so much more.
Along with his parents, Norm was preceded in death by his brother Dickie Westerbeck and his sister Joyce Staley, which he adored.
Norm leaves behind his loving daughter Wendy (Buster) Crabb, his son Christopher Westerbeck and his daughter Deborah (David) Hartenstein, his brothers Mark (Nell) Westerbeck, Mike (Joyce) Westerbeck and his brother-in-law, Frank Staley. He also leaves behind five loving grandchildren and one great grandson, his beloved dog, Jack, nephews and nieces as well as his extended family whom he loved and they loved very much (The Trigo’s – Tony, Anita, Anthony, Whitney, Rafaela, Briana).
Services for Norm will be held in New London, Iowa at a later date
Adapted from Turlock Funeral Home obituary.
Norman Lee Westerbeck, a military veteran, gourmet cook, gardener, a stylish dresser, golfer, fisherman, coin collector, watcher of sports, jokester, a ladies’ man and known to be stubborn at times, passed away on Friday, October 23, 2020 in Turlock, California.
Norman (Norm) was born on the 308th day of 1944 at 10:55 pm. It was the 44th Friday of that year (November 3, 1944), he was anything but ordinary. Norm was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to his loving parents Mary Hannah Westerbeck and Norman “Steve” Joseph Westerbeck. Truth be known “Steve” wasn’t fond of the name Norman for some reason and always gave Mary a bad time about it. His mother would call Norm, “Tater” and “Ockie”.
Norm was loved by many of his New London Tiger Classmates (Class of 1963) and stayed in touch with many of them until his passing. He was remembered as, handsome, a great athlete, ladies’ man and a jokester all through his youth which described a portion of who he was all his life. After graduating high school, Norm joined the US Air Force. He served overseas during the Vietnam War. Norm never spoke about the war much, other than he loved helping the soldiers by cooking special dishes for them, he was an amazing cook. Oh, there were stories but not about the actual War. His Air Force buddies called him, “Stormin’ Norman”.
Throughout the years, Norm was known for his signature roasts, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners, his ribs and sauerkraut, and homemade fudge. He would always point out which vegetables were used from his garden to accompany one of his amazing meals. I’m not sure but he must have used steroids in his garden because his garden would generate huge vegetables! When asked where the recipe was for his signature dishes, he always pointed to his head with a grin. Not only did he love to cook, he loved to eat.
Norm had a life-long love affair with Sterzing’s Potato Chips, his daughter’s potato salad, devil’s food cake, pork tenderloin sandwiches’ and any chocolate that he could get his hands on. As a point of pride, he alleged to remember every single bag of Sterzing’s eaten in his 75 years of life.
Norm always dressed and smelled his best for every occasion. Even though, jokingly, people would point out that an article of clothing went out of style, he would retire the piece of clothing but never throw it away. I’m sure that he owned over a 100 pair of glasses, 200 hats, 5,000 pieces of clothing and what seemed like 10,000 pairs of shoes, some of which he never wore but had to have. He always looked polished! He was the best person to go shopping with as he never seemed to tire from shopping (a lady’s dream).
The women in his life were numerous. He loved his mom Mary, his sister Joyce, his daughter Wendy, Anita Trigo and Whitney Martinez just to name a few. Norm had one tattoo (N.L.W.) on his upper arm. When asked about his tattoo, that he got while serving in the military, he would always say that it stood for, “Never Love Women”. Truth is, it was his initials and he was pressured to get. He just loved to love women.
Over his lifetime, Norm was interested in history. He loved learning about his family’s history and the history of wherever he traveled to. Norm also collected currency, coins mostly (new & old). He loved the history behind each coin. He often wondered who had owned the coins before and where the coins had been. Norm loved spending time with his grandson, Nicholas, from the time he was little, taking him to specialty shops on the lookout for their next treasure. They would spend time buying, researching and discussing everything that was purchased or what they still needed to find.
Norm always found joy in golfing and fishing, as he enjoyed the outdoors. Throughout the years, he would always make time to enjoy the two sports he loved the most. Norm loved to golf and spent time golfing with his son-in-law Buster and his wonderful friends Tony and Anthony, which were like family to him. In his early golf years, Norm skipped work one time to golf. At that time, he was working for his father-in-law. During the golf game he was hit on the forehead with a golf ball. He was okay but had to come up with a story as to why he had a large knot on his forehead the next day at work. I’m sure Norm had a cleaver excuse. Norm loved to golf sometimes making his own rules, pointing up to the sky and saying, “look, a dead bird” so he could move his ball a little closer to the hole. Norm always had time to fish. He taught his kids how to fish, that included setting up their poles, baiting their hooks and cleaning the fish (yuck)! He would say, “If you are going to catch it, you are going to have to clean it”. Throughout his life he went on many fishing trips with his daughter, Wendy and his extended family (Tony, Anthony and Whitney). While fishing one day, he caught a fish that was the size of his thumb. When asked what that was, he said, “I didn’t catch that, that’s my bait”.
Norm was a huge sports fan. He loved his Iowa Hawkeyes, Oakland Raiders, Oakland A’s and Golden State Warriors. He would proudly represent each team’s logo. Norm loved sports so much that when his grandson Nicholas was growing up, he would root him on and tell him stories of when he played during his younger years. Once during a parent teacher conference, the teacher told his daughter Wendy that Nicholas was so excited and proud of his Grandpa. Nicholas had told her and everyone in the school that his Grandpa played baseball with Ray Charles! She then said, “You know Ray was blind”?
Most of all, Norm was a very giving person. If it wasn’t gifting to family and friends, he would gift to random people in need. Norm was of Christian faith.
As you can tell, this is no ordinary obituary as Norm was not ordinary but extraordinary. Norm was bigger than life! I could go on and on. As you loved and adored him, he loved and adored you so much more.
Along with his parents, Norm was preceded in death by his brother Dickie Westerbeck and his sister Joyce Staley, which he adored.
Norm leaves behind his loving daughter Wendy (Buster) Crabb, his son Christopher Westerbeck and his daughter Deborah (David) Hartenstein, his brothers Mark (Nell) Westerbeck, Mike (Joyce) Westerbeck and his brother-in-law, Frank Staley. He also leaves behind five loving grandchildren and one great grandson, his beloved dog, Jack, nephews and nieces as well as his extended family whom he loved and they loved very much (The Trigo’s – Tony, Anita, Anthony, Whitney, Rafaela, Briana).
Services for Norm will be held in New London, Iowa at a later date
Adapted from Turlock Funeral Home obituary.
Norman (Norm) was born on the 308th day of 1944 at 10:55 pm. It was the 44th Friday of that year (November 3, 1944), he was anything but ordinary. Norm was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to his loving parents Mary Hannah Westerbeck and Norman “Steve” Joseph Westerbeck. Truth be known “Steve” wasn’t fond of the name Norman for some reason and always gave Mary a bad time about it. His mother would call Norm, “Tater” and “Ockie”.
Norm was loved by many of his New London Tiger Classmates (Class of 1963) and stayed in touch with many of them until his passing. He was remembered as, handsome, a great athlete, ladies’ man and a jokester all through his youth which described a portion of who he was all his life. After graduating high school, Norm joined the US Air Force. He served overseas during the Vietnam War. Norm never spoke about the war much, other than he loved helping the soldiers by cooking special dishes for them, he was an amazing cook. Oh, there were stories but not about the actual War. His Air Force buddies called him, “Stormin’ Norman”.
Throughout the years, Norm was known for his signature roasts, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners, his ribs and sauerkraut, and homemade fudge. He would always point out which vegetables were used from his garden to accompany one of his amazing meals. I’m not sure but he must have used steroids in his garden because his garden would generate huge vegetables! When asked where the recipe was for his signature dishes, he always pointed to his head with a grin. Not only did he love to cook, he loved to eat.
Norm had a life-long love affair with Sterzing’s Potato Chips, his daughter’s potato salad, devil’s food cake, pork tenderloin sandwiches’ and any chocolate that he could get his hands on. As a point of pride, he alleged to remember every single bag of Sterzing’s eaten in his 75 years of life.
Norm always dressed and smelled his best for every occasion. Even though, jokingly, people would point out that an article of clothing went out of style, he would retire the piece of clothing but never throw it away. I’m sure that he owned over a 100 pair of glasses, 200 hats, 5,000 pieces of clothing and what seemed like 10,000 pairs of shoes, some of which he never wore but had to have. He always looked polished! He was the best person to go shopping with as he never seemed to tire from shopping (a lady’s dream).
The women in his life were numerous. He loved his mom Mary, his sister Joyce, his daughter Wendy, Anita Trigo and Whitney Martinez just to name a few. Norm had one tattoo (N.L.W.) on his upper arm. When asked about his tattoo, that he got while serving in the military, he would always say that it stood for, “Never Love Women”. Truth is, it was his initials and he was pressured to get. He just loved to love women.
Over his lifetime, Norm was interested in history. He loved learning about his family’s history and the history of wherever he traveled to. Norm also collected currency, coins mostly (new & old). He loved the history behind each coin. He often wondered who had owned the coins before and where the coins had been. Norm loved spending time with his grandson, Nicholas, from the time he was little, taking him to specialty shops on the lookout for their next treasure. They would spend time buying, researching and discussing everything that was purchased or what they still needed to find.
Norm always found joy in golfing and fishing, as he enjoyed the outdoors. Throughout the years, he would always make time to enjoy the two sports he loved the most. Norm loved to golf and spent time golfing with his son-in-law Buster and his wonderful friends Tony and Anthony, which were like family to him. In his early golf years, Norm skipped work one time to golf. At that time, he was working for his father-in-law. During the golf game he was hit on the forehead with a golf ball. He was okay but had to come up with a story as to why he had a large knot on his forehead the next day at work. I’m sure Norm had a cleaver excuse. Norm loved to golf sometimes making his own rules, pointing up to the sky and saying, “look, a dead bird” so he could move his ball a little closer to the hole. Norm always had time to fish. He taught his kids how to fish, that included setting up their poles, baiting their hooks and cleaning the fish (yuck)! He would say, “If you are going to catch it, you are going to have to clean it”. Throughout his life he went on many fishing trips with his daughter, Wendy and his extended family (Tony, Anthony and Whitney). While fishing one day, he caught a fish that was the size of his thumb. When asked what that was, he said, “I didn’t catch that, that’s my bait”.
Norm was a huge sports fan. He loved his Iowa Hawkeyes, Oakland Raiders, Oakland A’s and Golden State Warriors. He would proudly represent each team’s logo. Norm loved sports so much that when his grandson Nicholas was growing up, he would root him on and tell him stories of when he played during his younger years. Once during a parent teacher conference, the teacher told his daughter Wendy that Nicholas was so excited and proud of his Grandpa. Nicholas had told her and everyone in the school that his Grandpa played baseball with Ray Charles! She then said, “You know Ray was blind”?
Most of all, Norm was a very giving person. If it wasn’t gifting to family and friends, he would gift to random people in need. Norm was of Christian faith.
As you can tell, this is no ordinary obituary as Norm was not ordinary but extraordinary. Norm was bigger than life! I could go on and on. As you loved and adored him, he loved and adored you so much more.
Along with his parents, Norm was preceded in death by his brother Dickie Westerbeck and his sister Joyce Staley, which he adored.
Norm leaves behind his loving daughter Wendy (Buster) Crabb, his son Christopher Westerbeck and his daughter Deborah (David) Hartenstein, his brothers Mark (Nell) Westerbeck, Mike (Joyce) Westerbeck and his brother-in-law, Frank Staley. He also leaves behind five loving grandchildren and one great grandson, his beloved dog, Jack, nephews and nieces as well as his extended family whom he loved and they loved very much (The Trigo’s – Tony, Anita, Anthony, Whitney, Rafaela, Briana).
Services for Norm will be held in New London, Iowa at a later date
Adapted from Turlock Funeral Home obituary.
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