Norma J. Jump

Norma Jean Jump, 83, of Kalamazoo, MI, passed away on Friday, March 5, 2021 at the Rose Arbor Hospice Center in Kalamazoo, MI.  Funeral services will be held on Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Walthill, NE, with Pastor Toni Hightree officiating.  The visitation will be held on Friday, March 12, 2021 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Munderloh-Smith Funeral Home in Pender, NE.  Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Walthill, NE.  In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial gift to HOSPICE CARE of Southwest Michigan.  Please go to their website at hospiceswmi.org and click on Give.   Arrangements are under the direction of Munderloh-Smith Funeral Home in Pender. 

Norma Jean Jump was born August 15, 1937 in Pisgah, Iowa, the daughter of Douglas (Dudley) Johnson and Frances Grandgenett.  When her parents divorced, Norma and her sister Doris (Keifer) lived with their grandparents, Neal and Ida Mae Grandgenett, on a farm outside Macy, Nebraska.   She later joined her mother Frances and stepfather Glen Thompson and their family in Onawa, Iowa.  She especially appreciated and loved her brothers, Terry and Bill, and sisters JoAnn, Virginia, Sherry, and Marsha.  She graduated from Onawa High School on May 12th, 1955 and worked as a telephone operator after high school.  She was especially proud of being a High School Graduate.   

Norma Jean met James (Jimmy) Jump when she lived in Nebraska.  On his leave from the Army while stationed at the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, he asked Jean to marry him.  They married on August 20^th, 1955 at the Dakota City Court House, Dakota City, Nebraska.  Jean began her life as a military wife stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  It was here they had their first child.  James (Jamie) Lee Jr. was born on December 18, 1956.   Later while stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska, Jean gave birth to her second child, a daughter, Cinda Sue, on May 19^th, 1962.    Jean loved Alaska and enjoyed the outdoors with fishing and camping when the short summer months allowed.  Every holiday was spent making meals for the GI’s that were away from home and looking for a bit of home cooking.  Their home was the gathering place for all their friends.  She loved country music and she loved to dance.   Jean took in two foster children during this time and cared for them until they could be returned to their families.  She also worked in the base daycare. 

In 1962, after receiving a transfer to Fort Knox, Kentucky, Jean and Jimmy, with a 6- month-old and a 5-year-old, drove the Alaskan Highway, then all-gravel, from Anchorage to the State of Washington.  Jimmy spent most of his 20-year Army career at Fort Knox.  During Jimmy’s two tours in Vietnam, he moved Jean and her children to Onawa, Iowa so she and the children could be with family.  While in Iowa, she was known for writing letters, gardening and allowing her children as many pets as they wanted, including two ducks named Elmer and Ruthie and a Chihuahua named Tiger.    

With Jimmy’s retirement in 1974, they moved to Walthill, Nebraska where Jean worked as a home health care aid and later, when Jimmy bought the gas station in Macy, as the book keeper.   Their third child, Jeffrey Albert, was born on February 13, 1977.    

After her husband Jimmy’s death in 1990, Jean lived in Onawa for two years to be close to her mother and siblings.  She lived with her daughter Cinda and family in Omaha for two years, and then moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan with her son.  She attended Western Michigan University Senior Day Services four days a week where she loved bingo, music, art projects and collecting ball caps.  She made many friends there.  She had a reputation for her cheerfulness and telling great stories about her life and family.  Jean was a woman of faith who attended a variety of churches over her lifetime. 

Throughout her life Jean was at her best when things were the worst.  She was a “Kool Aid Mom” who treated any kid who came to her home as her own.  She was a good wife, a great cook, and known for keeping a clean house.  Her family lovingly referred to her as “clean Jean.”  As an Army wife she kept the uniforms ironed, starched, the brass shinning and the boots polished.   She made a home each and every time there was a transfer. 

Norma Jean is survived by two sons, James Jump (Rita) of Kalamazoo, Michigan and Jeffrey Jump (Bridgette) of Pender, Nebraska, one daughter, Cinda Queen of Windsor, Colorado;  one former son-in-law, Phillip Queen of Omaha, Nebraska; six grandchildren, Kinley Thompson (Josh) of Windsor, Colorado, Jeri Queen (Timmy) of Omaha, Nebraska, Jayna Jump (Daron) of Pender, Nebraska, Jayden Jump of Pender, Nebraska, Mitchell Jump of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Madeline Jump of Kalamazoo, Michigan; and nine great grandchildren. 

Jean was preceded in death by her husband, James, her parents, and two sisters, Doris Keifer and Sherry Thompson.