Nora E Riedel

DOB: July 14, 1917

DOD: Nov 16, 2023, Littleton Colorado

Place of birth: Concordia, Missouri

Married: Albert Phillip Riedel, May 11, 1937 (Eloped to Wray Colorado since Grandpa (John Henry Miller) wanted them to wait until after harvest time.

Parents: John Henry Miller, Earna Ora Pinkapank Miller

Siblings: Robert, Mildred, Harry, Mirdie, Elsie, Harvey, Clyde, Ester, Dorothy, Bonnie, Harold (Esther and Harold are surviving)

Children: Alberta Akin, Richard Riedel, Donna Probst (Richard is surviving)

Grandchildren: Cheryl, Mike, David, Lorelei, Troy, Lisa, Todd

Great Grandchildren: 12

Great, Great, Grandchildren: 3

Moms’ family moved to Colorado in approx. 1932 (she and Merdie were looking for cowboys to marry). The move was made, in part by half the family riding the train and the rest coming by car. The family settled in Ft Morgan, Colorado to farm Sugar beets.

Mom tells the story about having to walk to school through the snow (deeper than the fences on the farm), up-hill both ways.

Mom survived the 1917 pandemic, the first world war, the great depression of 1938, the Korean conflict, Vietnam war, Polio and the Covid virus for just a few of the tribulations during her life to say nothing of raising 3 teenagers.

Times were tough so Mom and Pop moved to Oregon to find work borrowing money from Grandpa Riedel (imagine finding work with a 6th grade education) instead they had Alberta then Pop moved to California for work and Mom with two kids followed by car. They lived in a Trailer in California. The story was told about Mom loading all the heavy cooking stuff and canned goods in the back of the trailer and when hooked to the car the front wheels almost came off the ground The next move was to Colorado where Pop worked for the WPA and tells the story of being paid $1.00 a week and supplementing his income by giving other workers rides to work. During this time Mom worked running a punch press, for electric boxes, until she saw a lady lose two fingers in a press, Mom quit. She tried working later in a Drycleaners where it was too hot, she tried working in a school cafeteria where the work was too hard, she tried selling Amway products but found she was not a sales’ person so she then settled into her occupation as a home maker and was successful.

Nora only lost her temper one time we know of and that was when we three kids were bickering and she slammed a bottle of milk on the table, which broke and cut her hand, She yelled “I hope you’re happy now and left the room to bandage her hand”

Pop and Mom enjoyed parties and had several each year. They enjoyed dancing and especially the Polka, so some weekend evenings were spent in ballrooms and dance halls having fun. There were years of camping in tents and in campers, imagine Nora in her double knits without a hair out of place sleeping on the ground in a tent and cooking over a fire.

Mom asked Pop to paint the front door to the house, he didn’t argue, he went to the store, bought a can of red paint and painted the door, across the grain. (She repainted the door later that week). Pop always said to leave something undone so the women would have something to think about. I don’t know if Mom ever figured this out.

Pop always called Mom Dickie and she called him Al. They had a hard life raising three kids, during tough times, but they always found reasons to be happy and enjoy each other.

I hope where they are now that they are holding hands, him whistling and her humming. We never doubted their Love and dedication for each other or us kids.

Mom rest in peace