Norma ”Jo” Pyle (Albert) passed into eternal rest in her home at Sedgebrook in Lincolnshire, Illinois on April 2, 2007. Born in Collison, Illinois on July 10, 1930 to Estella Barkman and Fred Emory Albert, Jo grew up in Newman and Danville, Illinois with her brother, Charles Albert and her sister Creta Belle (Arlington), and met her future husband L. Duane Pyle in Newman. Jo was a member of Job’s Daughters, a branch of the Masonic Rites and held positions of leadership up to Honored Queen in the late 1940s. She graduated from Bethel Woman's College in Hopkinsville, Kentucky (closed in 1964) with an Associate’s degree receiving the honor of membership into the Phi Theta Kappa honor fraternity. She has a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and was active in their Modern Dance program. Married to L. Duane Pyle (Leonard Duane Pyle) on July 17, 1954 in West Lafayette, they raised Jana, Robin, Eran and Devon in West Lafayette where Duane received his Ph.D. and was a founding faculty member of Purdue University’s Department of Computer Sciences. They moved to Houston, Texas in 1971, where Duane assumed the chairmanship of the University of Houston Computer Science program. Jo lived in the Memorial Drive area from 1971 to 2015. She was a long-time employee of the former Foley, Federated department store at Memorial City in both retail and the Business office. Active in the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church (MDPC) for almost 40 years, she served on the Prime Timers board and as their President along with planning the Spring Fashion Show. Jo took weekly flower orders for the church making sure flowers were delivered to members in need. She participated in her MDPC “Circle,” "Just For Now,” “Branches,” Houston Presbyterian Cursillo and sang in the Sanctuary Choir. Jo was also a member of the Houston Assembly of Delphians where she enjoyed preparing lectures for her group. Jo’s breadth of interest ranged from swimming to painting modern naturalistic art that decorated her Houston home, to clothing design, to her children’s dance and drama programs as a Drama Mama and to attending professional theater. Her home in Houston showed her amazing green thumb. Her yard was an oasis of green with her azaleas stretching gracefully across the front of her house. Jo loved to travel and did so often. She enjoyed visiting Russia, Europe, the Yucatan, Padre Island and Galveston plus retreats to southeastern Texas. In January 2016, Jo moved to Sedgebrook to be closer to her daughters and family in the Midwest. She found it hard to leave Houston after over 40 years. In May 2016, she broke her hip which was an easy recovery; but unfortunately, her mobility started to decline, complicating her heart and memory issues. Jo passed away with Devon caring for her. She died in her apartment at Sedgebrook on Sunday, April 2, 2017. Norma Jo Pyle is survived by her sister Creta Belle Arlington of Marion, Indiana, her half-sister Alice Snyder and her sister-in-law Alice Albert of Danville, Ilinois, her daughter Jana Pyle of Rockville, Indiana Robin Pyle of Elliotsville, Indiana and Devon Pyle - Vowles with her husband Stephen Vowles of Glencoe, Illinois.

Source: Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, Houston Chronicle