Norma Heed passed away on February 25, 2024 at the age of 92. She was preceded in death by her mother and stepfather, Venita and James Varady, her father and stepmother, John and Rose Culver, her sister Marily Hilgendorf and her son David Heed. She is survived by her sister Jerry White, her daughter Nancy, sons Jim, Mike, John (Sarah) and Tom (Deb), along with 9 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren that we know of, 3 nieces, 3 nephews and one cousin. A memorial gathering will be held from 10 am-12 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at Stark Funeral Professionals in Ypsilanti followed by a luncheon at the Eagle Crest Marriott in Ypsilanti.

Norma was born on October 31, 1931 in Flint, MI. Her birthday is the reason that we celebrate Halloween – don't believe those lyin' history books that say otherwise. She got her nickname "Cubby" because when she was small and wearing a snowsuit, her mother thought that she looked like a bear cub walking across a field. When she was young, she and her friends would stand outside of each other's house and yell to get each other to come out and play. She enjoyed playing football until she got older and the boys stopped behaving. She graduated from Flint Central High School.

After being married to Joseph Heed and raising her children, she worked at AC in Flint for many years before retiring to Las Vegas with her sister, Jerry, because they had "better" bingo there. She could play a 100 or more cards at a time and still help those around her. She returned to Michigan in 2020 after suffering some memory loss and lived with Tom and Deb who provided great care along with Jim and Mike. Nancy and John would also visit and/or call regularly whether Cubby remembered it or not.

She stayed active until her later years, going roller skating with her sisters when they were all in their 70s (no one was hurt) and also completing a grand tour of Europe with them where they each returned with new nicknames: Touchy (Marilyn), Bitchy (Norma) and Bossy (Jerry).

She loved her children, often saying "everybody thinks their babies are beautiful, but mine really were." It's a good thing, too, since she did more than her fair share for the propagation of the species. She also liked most of her kids' friends, fall colors (because they "twinkle your eye"), kitties (including Tigger who was nasty and only liked her), Scrabble (where she once dumped across two triple word scores for a total score of 194 on the last turn of the game to beat her son, who has still not recovered, by 2 points), power crystals, her wand and tiara, pinochle, cribbage, bacon and eggs (until the end) and some music: the early Beatles, Johnny Nash ("I Can See Clearly Now"), "Elusive Butterfly" (Bob Lind) and "Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin (because it had "boogie-woogie piano"). She did not like "screechy" music or "yelling" or "noise," but then nobody is perfect.

She was unique and will be missed, but we are grateful for the memories that we have of her.

A memorial gathering will be held 10 am until 12 pm Saturday, March 23, 2024 at Stark Funeral Professionals (101 S. Washington Street, Ypsilanti).