Norma Lea Kester, longtime resident of Yates Center, Kansas, passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, January 16, 2021, at the Life Care Center in Burlington. She was 89 years old.

She was born September 1, 1931, in Anderson County, Kansas, the daughter of Madison and Bessie (Offield) Shepard. She spent her childhood in Anderson County around the Colony area until moving to Yates Center when she was a teenager.

On May 2, 1948, she and William Joseph "Bill" Kester were married at Garnett. They became the parents of two daughters, Connie and Deb.In earlier years Norma operated a daycare. Later she cooked for Meals on Wheels and then was a Transportation Aid for the Yates Center schools.

She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Yates Center.

Her husband, Bill, preceded her in death on December 4, 2011, following more than sixty-three years of marriage. She suffered the loss of her granddaughter, Laura Lea Hegwald, on February 12, 2020.  She was also preceeded in death by her parents, brothers Robert Shepard and Melvin Shepard and sisters Lois Ellis, Reva Turner, Myrtle Francis, Murel Olechea and an infant brother and sister.

She leaves her daughters, Connie Morrison and husband Gary, and Deb Burke and husband Robert, of Yates Center; three grandchildren, Trent Morrison and Jolea Burke of Yates Center, and Travis Morrison (Rachel) of Mesa, AZ; three great-grandchildren, Alexis Barker and fiancé Gage Clark, and Melanie and Caleb Hegwald; nieces and nephews; many other relatives and friends.

Private family funeral services will be held 1:30 P.M. Monday, January 18, 2021, at Campbell Funeral Home in Yates Center. Burial will follow in Yates Center Cemetery.  Masks are required.

Mrs. Kester will lie in state from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. on Sunday.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hand In Hand Hospice and may be

sent in care of Campbell Funeral Home, PO Box 188, Yates Center, KS 66783.

The service will be streamed on Facebook Live.: https://www.facebook.com/CampbellFuneralHomeYC