Memorial
Norma Junelle Sirotiak passed away on May 26, 2023, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the age of 97. She lived independently and stayed physically active until the day of her passing, tending to the home she lived in for 63 years.
She was born on March 31, 1926, in Laconia, New Hampshire to Floyd B. Hopson and Junelle (Brodie) Hopson. Norma grew up in Massena, New York with her brothers Richard E. Hopson (Dick) and Floyd N. Hopson (Hop) and sister Evelyn H. Hopson (all deceased). She graduated from Massena High School in 1944 and obtained a BS in Physical Therapy from Boston University in 1948.
Her career as a physical therapist took her to Texas, where she worked extensively with patients of the polio epidemic. She later moved to Des Moines where she met and married the love of her life, John E. Sirotiak on April 17, 1954. Together they moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to start their family. She was an amazing wife and mother, and balanced her responsibilities at home while working part time at Mercy Hospital.
After John died in 1985, she continued working until she was 78 and kept in touch with many of her former patients and coworkers her entire life. When she was asked why she lived such a long, healthy life, she would often say, “I just did for myself what I asked my patients to do”.
Norma loved her family, friends and neighbors and saved cards and mementos from them all. She was an avid reader and loved to tell of her first job as a librarian at the age of 12. She considered the newspaper to be much like a book delivered to her door every day and read it cover to cover. She had a very inquisitive mind, and loved to learn. If she didn’t know the answer to something, she’d find it in the encyclopedia, dictionary, or one of the many magazines and newspapers she read.
Norma’s service was held at Cedar Memorial on July 6, 2023. She will be put to rest at Fort Snelling veteran cemetery in Minnesota with her husband John. She is survived by her sons Judd and Todd, her daughter Lori and four grandchildren.