Norma Lerlene Niles, age 87, passed away in Norfolk on Monday, December 19, 2022. Preceding her in death were her parents, William Henry Wyatt and Goldie May Williams Wyatt; her two brothers Linwood and Thomas Wyatt; her four sisters Pearl [Barlow], Mary [Atkins], Gwendolyn Wyatt (2) and Bernice Wyatt (infant); her husband Kenneth O. Niles, daughter Carol Banwell, daughter-in-law Margaret Niles, son Kenneth J. Niles; and nephews Gordon “Bud” Kariger and Tom Wyatt. She leaves behind a large family who loved her unconditionally including her children Will Shaw (Judy), Mary Baeseman (Cliff), Katherine Grogg (Jim), Charles Niles; her niece Gwendolyn Stegmeier; and several grandchildren, great grandchildren, great nieces and nephews, and a great great grandchild.
Born into an expat family in Balboa, Panama, on August 20, 1935, Norma was the youngest of seven children and lived her early years in a truly unique environment – the Panama Canal Zone during World War II where her father worked as a shipbuilder. Shortly after the war ended, her family returned to their roots in Norfolk, VA where she eventually grew up, graduated high school (Granby), married a US Air Force airman, and had two children. Military life took Norma and her family to Florida and North Dakota, but the marriage ended, and Norma returned to Norfolk with her children in the late 1960s. A few years later, however, she met Ken Niles and that’s when life really got colorful. Norma, with her two teenage children, and Ken with his four, created their own version of the Brady Bunch. Married in 1972, Norma, Ken and their six teenagers first lived together in Willoughby Spit, then moved back to the Wards Corner area. Norma was employed by DePaul Hospital on Granby Street for more than 20 years where she excelled working in billing and collections, and as a supervisor of the emergency room. Norma also attended church regularly up until the pandemic. She was a member of Bayview Baptist Church for over 30 years and attended a few other local churches in her later life. She also made it a priority to read her Bible every day, a habit she kept until just recently when poor health prevented her from doing it.
Norma was incredibly close to her late sisters, Pearl and Mary. Her relationship with them was a hallmark of her adult life. The three of them spent a lot of time socializing with their families, especially at Pearl’s home on Inlet Rd. in Virginia Beach where they would gather just about every Sunday afternoon following church. Together, they were really something special and their strong bond was the glue that brought several families together.
Like many members of the Wyatt and Niles families before her, Norma will be missed. She was feisty, unconventional, and although she and Ken lived a good life together for many years, she really savored her independence and her routine in her later years. Whether in Norfolk, or at her little beach house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina (Kill Devil Hills) that she loved to visit, Norma enjoyed the simple things in life – her many canine and avian companions over the years, her computer where she could spend countless hours playing games and trolling her family on Facebook, her tv on which she could watch the cheesiest of horror flicks, her extensive piggy bank collection that she inexplicably started a few years ago, a little red countertop ice maker that she exclaimed was the best gift she ever received, and, of course, shopping and browsing in stores, and eating out as often as she could. She thoroughly enjoyed her last few vacations to places like New Orleans, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina where she had plenty of time to do all the things that made her happy.
All in all, Norma’s life was good because she lived by the Word and believed sincerely that God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.