Norma Elizabeth Fink

 On December 10, 2025, Norma Fink went “home” to see Jesus face-to-face.

Norma Elizabeth Fink (nee Emmons), born July 7,1936, in Philadelphia, PA, was the eldest child of George and Sabina Emmons. Norma developed a love for music at an early age when her father, a factory worker, regularly took her to the Philadelphia Opera Matinee performances on the weekends.

After high school graduation Norma worked at Bell Telephone Company, while still living at home. On July 4, 1955, while on a family outing to the beach at Cape May, NJ, she met Dale E. Fink who was enlisted in the Air Force and stationed at nearby McGuire AFB.

They made a tentative date for the next week, but all she gave him was an address on a one-block long street in Philadelphia. On the evening of the date, she waited to see if he would show up. Being a resourceful country boy from WV, he had hailed a taxi driver to ask directions to her house. Three months later, they married at the Philadelphia Court House and began 56 years of married life.

The Air Force life took Dale and Norma to Tennessee, New York, England and finally Florida. Along the way they had three daughters, whom they raised mostly in Valparaiso, FL.

Norma, an excellent cook and homemaker, used those skills to entertain and “adopt” young Air Force personnel who did not have local family. The Fink Family home had extra folks for dinner on every holiday and lifelong friendships developed as a result. Norma loved to swim and to sing. She became a Red Cross swimming instructor in her forties and used that skill to teach. She used her singing talents at Eglin East Gate Chapel, as a member of the choir for 50 years and as a member of the Northwest Florida State Symphony Chorus. She and Dale held season tickets to Stage Crafters productions and NWFSC Orchestra and theater events.

Norma is preceded in death by her parents, an infant brother, daughters Scheryl Swan (Dave) of Niceville, FL; Teresa Glass (Marty) of DeFuniak Springs, FL; Linda Hall (Doug) of Newport News, VA; four grandchildren, Kevin VanDenBerg (Ashley); Meagan Phelps (Ben); Adam Hall (Jordyn Mills); Bradley Hall (Roisin McCabe); 12 great-grandchildren: Cole, Reid and Max VanDenBerg; Caden, Landon, Olivia, Jackson and Finley Phelps; Zooey Hall; Alice, Eleanor and Rosie Hall.

Visitation: Monday, December 15, 2025, from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at Heritage Gardens Funeral Home, 2201 Partin Drive N, Niceville, FL, followed by graveside service at Sunset Cemetery, Valparaiso, FL

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to The American Cancer Society or The American Red Cross.

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