Obituary of Norma K. Niven

Norma Niven, aged 92, passed away peacefully at the Sullivan County Adult Care Center in Liberty, NY on May 22nd , 2013. She was born December 1, 1920 in Newark, NJ to Fredrick A. Kessler and Wilma Bennett Kessler. Norma earned a bachelor’s degree in Home Economics from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia in 1942 on full scholarship, and an M.S in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1946. After graduating from Chestnut Hill she aided the WWII war effort in a Wilmington, DE military parts requisition company and the Signal Corps Depot in Philadelphia, PA. She worked for the Monticello school system as a Home Economics teacher in the late 1940s and as a substitute teacher through the 1970s. However, the bulk of her time was devoted to caring for her family. She was a teacher and mentor for many years in various volunteer capacities including Sunday School, the Girl Scouts and the Sullivan County Audubon Society, which she co-founded with her husband, Kenneth Niven. Her strong Christian faith was a guiding force in her life. She was baptized at age 14 at the Elizabeth Ave. Baptist Church in Newark, NJ and joined the First Church of Monticello, Presbyterian when she married in 1946. She loved her church and served it in many ways over the years. Norma was optimistic about life and had a gift for seeing beauty and goodness in the world. She had broad interests and was always passionate about learning, often running to the encyclopedia in search of answers to questions that arose at the dinner table. She was an amateur artist, played piano, sang in college (once performed with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Philharmonic), and loved opera, ballet and literature. She was as good a mother as one could hope for; loving, kind, supportive and nurturing, and a skilled and patient teacher whose interests and training in home economics were greatly valued by her family. Norma viewed cooking and sewing as expressions of caring, love and giving, and delighted in preparing family meals and special food gifts, most especially in baking annual assortments of Christmas cookies for family and friends. Her kind spirit shone throughout her life, even in the final stages of her illness. Norma was predeceased by her beloved husband, Kenneth D. Niven, and is survived by her daughter Cynthia Niven of Monticello, NY and her son Daniel Niven, his wife Kathleen Fort, and her granddaughter, Bridget Phoebe Niven of Champaign, IL. Her family is deeply grateful to the entire staff of the Sullivan County Adult Care Center for the wonderfully kind and skilled care they gave Norma during the years she made it her home. Visitation will be held on Sunday, May 26 from 4-7pm at the VanInwegen-Kenny Inc. Funeral Home, 401 Broadway in Monticello. Her funeral service will be held on Tuesday, May 28 at 11am at the First Church of Monticello Presbyterian, Jones Street in Monticello with Rev. Johanna Andritz officiating. Burial will follow at the Rock Ridge Cemetery in Monticello. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the First Church of Monticello Presbyterian or the Sullivan County Adult Care Center Family Council. Arrangements under the direction of the VanInwegen-Kenny, Inc. Funeral Home of Monticello. For additional information or to send the family an online condolence, please visit www.kennyfuneralhome.com