Norma “Jane” (Prince) Zimmer was born on December 6, 1950, to Katherine (Farmer) and Rufus Prince. She spent an idyllic childhood on an apple orchard in Turner, ME and graduated from Leavitt High School. Norma attended Washington College in Chestertown, MD for three years, then took a year off to explore possibilities and work at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, MA. She transferred to the University of Maine where she earned a degree in Philosophy.
After graduation, she did what one does with a degree in Philosophy, she drove a taxi in Maine which was a job she loved. She then embarked on a journey which eventually led her to Wrangell, AK where she met her future husband, Allen Zimmer. They were married in Wrangell in 1976 and lived there until after Rebekah and Ethan were born, and then they moved to Allen’s childhood community of Benchland, MT in 1979. There, they farmed and ranched for the remainder of her life.
Norma was essentially a farmer/rancher but also maintained an active community life. She served on the Stanford School Board, the FSA County Committee, the County Library Board, the County Tax Appeal Board, the Judith Basin Endowment Foundation, and the Judith Arts Society Board.
Included among her pastimes were reading, listening to music, hooking and braiding rugs, taking road trips, refinishing furniture, adopting chairs, weeding her perennials, and vacuuming pet hair. She abhorred arrogance, ignorance, greed, housework, and greasing the swather.
Norma is survived by her husband, Allen Zimmer; children, Rebekah (Phil Zarecor), and Ethan; brothers, Don (Jeanne) Prince of Turner, Maine, Hal (Sandy) Prince of Clermont, FL; sister-by-choice-not-birth, Connie Hersey of Lewiston, ME, and all of her amazing offspring; sisters-by-marriage, Crystal (Doug) Winter, Susan (Mark) Gilkey, Karen (Roy) Imamura and their families.
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, visit the Schnider Funeral Home website.
