Norma Elizabeth Marshall

Norma Elizabeth Marshall passed away peacefully on July 27, 2026 at Evangelical Home – Michigan. She was 100. Norma graduated from Eastern High School in Lansing in 1943. She was on the high school debate and forensics team that competed on the state level. Her senior high school yearbook said she hated “giggling girls”, loved roller skating and wanted to pursue a career in surgical nursing. She received nursing certificate as a part of the Cadet Nursing Program in 1948, with additional credits from Michigan State University. Norma graduated with a degree from Case Western University and completed her Ph.D. in the School of Education at The University of Michigan in 1985. Norma had a career in nursing for over forty years, including being named the Acting Dean of the UM School of Nursing in 1972. She retired in 1982 and was awarded Emeritus Professor status. Her post-retirement nursing work included being appointed as the first nurse on the Washtenaw County Board of Health and rose to be chair of the committee in the late 1980s and returning to the UM School of Nursing, at the request of Dean Rhetaugh Dumas to work on special projects. Norma was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor for over fifty years. She enjoyed reading, listening to music and sitting on the deck of her home on the Huron River, enjoying a glass of wine and spending time with her family and friends. Norma was preceded in death by her parents, William Kirkconnell and Illa (Stimer) Kirkconnell, as well siblings Dorothy, Wilma, Thomas, Lucille, Lois and Alvin. Her beloved husband Claude Marshall Jr. preceded her in death in 2012 and daughter Anne in 2020. She is survived by a sister Joyce Wise, sister-in-law Sandra Kirkconnell, grandson John Marshall Harrell and son-in-law Steve Sheldon as well as several nieces and nephews. Friends may join the family for a Memorial Service on Tuesday, August 25th at 2:00 P.M. in the Monteith Hall at First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, 1432 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Pastor Melissa Anne Rogers will officiate the service. A reception will follow and will be held at the Church. Burial will take place in the Maple Hill Cemetery in Charlotte, MI on Monday, August 24th at 10:30 A.M. Memorial contributions in Norma’s name may be made to First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor or to the UofM School of Nursing. Donations can be made online and more information can be found by visiting https://nursing.umich.edu/giving/make-a-gift To leave a memory you have of Norma, to sign her online guestbook or for directions please visit www.rbfhsaline.com

Tributes

Norma Elizabeth Marshall

January 20, 1926 - July 27, 2026