Linda Kay Norman (Ford)

Linda Kay Norman (Ford), 78, of Sallisaw (formerly Checotah) went to be with her Lord Jesus on September 11th, 2026. She was known and loved as Wife, Mother, Aunt, Friend, and Grandma and handled each of those roles in such a way that guarantees she will never be forgotten. She left a void in her family's hearts but only because she filled it so deeply for all her years.

Linda was born on November 19, 1947 in Borger, Texas and married quite young to Richard J Bannerman of the U.S. Air Force in 1964. They immediately had orders to North Dakota, where they remained until he separated from the military and they moved to his hometown of New York City. She enjoyed New York City, especially the 1965 World’s Fair much to her New York family’s worry and concern because she went there by herself almost every day! She even climbed the Statue of Liberty the day before her oldest child was born. She was always full of adventure.

Her only two children were born to this union, which lasted ten years. Her beloved daughter was born in 1965, Lynelle Marie Bannerman Medley (Mickey), and her precious baby boy was born in 1969, William Joseph Valentino Bannerman. His extra middle name is quite a story because he was born in one of the worst blizzards in the history of New York City and the ambulance could not reach them and they couldn’t reach the hospital so he was born in a mailman’s house named Michael Valentino. They also forgot their three-year-old daughter when they finally left for the hospital!

While in New York City, Linda and Ric met George & Roe Osborne who are the oldest of all their old friends (because everyone knows, “You can’t make old friends"). They shared their lives with the Osbornes and together they marched in many parades in Washington D.C. handing out “You’ll pry my gun out of my cold dead fingers” bumper stickers. Linda and Ric ran the bookstore for the local John Birch Society and the four of them remained close through both their deaths.

After ten years in New York City, they would move back to Oklahoma where they went their separate ways and she would later marry Bill E. Norman and remain married to him until his death in 2012. She spent most of her work career working in finance management both in Manhattan and then later she worked for many years for General Electric in their Finance Division, where she excelled. She greatly admired and knew former CEO Jack Welch during his early years with GE.

During her time in Oklahoma City, Linda became close friends with what would also become her very oldest friends, Mary & Jerry Wright who have been through almost everything with her. During our many memorable times, our families attended every 89'ers baseball game, every single OKC Stars hockey game, even the one where the U.S. Olympic team, in their first practice game together the year they won the gold, were beat by the OKC Stars. Special vendor tickets for the Oklahoma State Fair where Linda and her family could park their motor home for days at a time was the icing on cake. What glory days!

Linda eventually “retired” to their 160-acre farm in Calvin, Oklahoma to raise cattle and where both Lynelle & Billy finished high school and moved on to their own careers and lives. During this time, Linda also spent several years as Hughes County Coordinator with Deep Fork Community Action.

They eventually moved to Checotah to truly retire to their little slice of heaven right on Lake Eufaula where they dove into their favorite pastime, golf. During these years, their days were spent fishing and playing golf in between whatever was Linda’s latest craft obsession – they had so many stories including her extraordinary “Hole in 1” at Westwood Shores Country Club (Hole #4 112 yards) on August 7th, 2011 as well as one earlier in her career at Fountainhead. She and best friends of decades, Betty Dixon (Muskogee), Dee East (Longtown), and Lorene West teamed up and played tournaments all over Oklahoma and even into Arkansas racking up some serious wins. They used to quip they were the only place on earth where the East met the West!

Linda leaves behind to grieve her deeply, her children, Mickey & Lynelle Medley and Billy & LaDoanna Bannerman as well as her beloved grandchildren Tyler Joseph Bannerman (Shelby), Alissa Marie Bannerman, Kallianne Mackenzie Ardese (Brock), and Malakye Andrews. She loved them as she used to say, “…with a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.” She was also very close to a special niece, Janessa Norman (Terry Davis) of Alabama in whom she was well pleased and tried to get her to move back to Oklahoma numerous times over the years. During her time at the lake, Linda found one of her most trusted friends whom she called “Becky Sue” though she was the only one to ever use that name. Becky Sue Davis was a great blessing for her in some truly heartbreaking times and they remained friends for the rest of her life. Linda’s love language was food and true to fashion Becky came bearing chocolate chip cookies when she visited!

In her later years, as she slowed down tremendously in regards to golf, she grew an amazing garden every year, cooked delicious food for Mickey every Sunday on her pit boss, continued to make the most beautiful crafts for gifts for her loved ones, and found a new neighborhood in Sallisaw, which she swore was her very favorite neighborhood which became her final home. There she found her special little “Barbie” friend, Kelly Miller, who was about to retire and they had all kinds of crafts plans, which sadly will never come to fruition. Kelly’s family were also very close with Linda and all were on hand when she drew her final breaths. Even days before her death, she was still making plans to build another house, maybe buy a golf course, and she has even purchased all the supplies for her new ideas for her garden already for next year.

In her last several years, her son gave her a little Chorkie she named Tina and was her baby. She later added Zoe, a Morkie, as Tina’s beloved sister and they were fast friends to the end of her days. The evening Linda passed Tina slept on the blanket covering Linda in her usual spot for over two hours while we waited on the Medical Examiner, we believe this helped Tina to understand that she was moving into a new season.

We all know that Linda’s anchor of hope was her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who welcomed her in His arms the moment she was absent in her body. For this we are grateful because we know this means we will see her again someday. One of her favorite expressions was, “God wins!” and we all know this to be true.

The funeral service for Linda will be at 1 PM on Monday, September 21, 2026 at Faith Church located at 389 S. Paul Carr Drive in Checotah, Oklahoma. The Honorable John Bennett will officiate. Burial will follow at Greenlawn Cemetery in Checotah, Oklahoma under the direction of Agent Mallory Martin Fu