Norma L. Swank

Norma Lorraine Adams Swank, the seventh of Jim Floyd and Maggie Belle Adams' eleven children, passed away on June 23, 2026.

Norma was born in the family home just south of Cadiz, Kentucky, on July 6, 1934, at the height of the Great Depression. Like many Kentucky families at the time, the Adams family moved north to Ohio and back to Kentucky several times during her childhood. Some of her fondest memories and the stories she most often told centered on Lincoln Grade School in South Akron and Trigg County High where she graduated as valedictorian in 1952.

Shortly after her high school graduation, she joined the rest of her family who had again moved to Akron a year earlier. There she worked at Federman’s Department Store on Main Street, enrolled in Akron University for a year, and then took a job at Kroger on Miller Avenue where she met the love of her life, the man who would be her husband for the next 67 years, the late Roland (Ronnie) Swank.

As a mother of three young children, she instilled in them a sense of neatness and orderliness. Without fail, she put them to work twice a year, washing down all of the walls inside the house. She dutifully passed out a weekly allowance - two cents a day for making their beds, two cents for sweeping the floor, and a penny for dusting their bedrooms. Saturdays carried a bonus of a quarter for running the “big sweeper.”

But there was also plenty of play in her home. Summer tent camping vacations to Cape Hatteras, the Smoky Mountains, and Kentucky Lake State Park every August were times of great adventure, family bonding, and education. Lighthouse climbing, historic battlefields and multiple trips to see the outdoor drama Unto These Hills on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina were combined with rafting on the Atlantic waves, climbing the mountains of Tennessee and golfing at KenLake.

One of Norma’s greatest joys was taking the family countless times to see The Sound of Music at the Village Theater in Fairlawn where it ran for over 100 consecutive weeks in the mid-sixties. Captain von Trapp and Gretl were her favorite characters - the stern but compassionate head of the household and the fun-loving and innocent child who reminded her of the hundreds of young children she taught for decades in Sunday School classes at Oak Hill Presbyterian Church.

Church and faith were driving forces in Norma’s life. Sunday School, the 11:00 service, and singing in the choir on Sunday followed by the Women’s Circle meetings and youth group and choir practice midweek, kept the family’s Chevy station wagon in constant motion from Goodyear Heights to Ellet. She and Ronnie were such an active part of Oak Hill that they had their own set of keys to the church. Her favorite verse from the Bible was Psalm 121 which combined the title of the Cherokee drama and the long trek to freedom that the von Trapp family made in the movie: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”

But her greatest love was the time she spent with Ronnie. Whether they were golfing, playing Scrabble, visiting family, or walking in the woods, they demonstrated by example how to live life to the fullest each and every day. Their marriage was grounded in unwavering faith, trust, mutual admiration, support, and love for one another.

Norma is survived by her three children, Alan (Terry) Swank of Athens, Ohio, David (Clare Paquelet) Swank of Richfield, Ohio, and Alison (Steve) Thompson of Leesburg, VA; six grandchildren, Lindsey (Mark) Meili of Athens, Ryan (Courtney Wiener) Swank of Austin, TX, Katherine (Brandon Turner) Swank of Columbus, OH, Andrew Swank of Holliston, MA, Anne (Adam Parker) Thompson of Chicago, IL, and Sarah (Charlie) Seidell of Kensington, MD; and 9 great grandchildren, Ava, Emma and Olivia Meili, Adeline and Weston Swank, Beatrix and Florence Turner, Madison Seidell, and Eleanor Parker.

The family wishes to thank Nicole Williamson, who provided such compassionate care and friendship, the staff at The Inn at Apple Ridge where Norma lived for the last year, and her wonderful friends on the fourth floor of Rockynol Independent Living.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the following organizations: Open M Ministry, where Norma and Ronnie volunteered for many years, 941Princeton St. Akron, OH 44311; Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Ohio which Norma fervently supported, P.O. Box 340734 Columbus, OH 43234; or Trigg County Public Schools Educational Foundation, 202 Main Street, Cadiz KY 42211.

Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, July 1 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at Oak Hill Presbyterian Church, 2406 Ardwell Ave, Akron OH 44312, with the funeral service at 11:00. Burial will follow at East Liberty Cemetery, 740 East Turkeyfoot Lake Road, Akron, OH 44319.