MacLaverty, Norma Joyce Semanchik Obituary

MacLaverty, Norma Joyce Semanchik attended Horace Mann High School in Gary, IN. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Maclaverty, Norma Joyce Semanchik.

Graduation Year	Class of 1937
Date of Passing	Dec 20, 2014
About	Norma Joyce MacLaverty Semanchik, aged 95, passed away December 20, 2014, at Brentwood in Hobart, Indiana. Daughter of Ottie MacLaverty of New Brunswick, Canada and Mabel Aucoin MacLaverty of Nova Scotia, Canada, Norma was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Nov 29, 1919. The family moved to Gary, Indiana when she was 4 years old, as her father obtained work in the steel mills. She graduated from Horace Mann high school in Gary, IN, class of 1937. She was an excellent seamstress and was hired by Boston Maid, a clothing manufacturer, in Massachusetts. She spent a few years there, and sent money back home for her siblings. She loved to dance and participated in the “Carnegees” through US Steel, who provided a Canteen for the WWII troops serving meals and holding dances. She was also employed at US Steel, Tin Mill, where she “flipped tin.” Later she met her husband Michael Semanchik, at Danceland, in Illinois. They were married in 1947. She owned and ran the Miss Muffet Shop, a children’s clothing store in Merrillville, Indiana, and made many friends while living in the area. She had a lifelong passion for the welfare of animals. Her cat Muffin lived to be 23 yrs. old. She had a big heart and was a generous soul. Norma loved music and sang in the Purdue Extension choir for years, and after retirement, sang in the Senior Sounds of Music group. After years living in the Merrillville area, upon retiring, she and husband Mike move to Arizona where she lived around 12 years. They loved the warmer climate and the Southwest. After her husband died, she returned to Indiana to be nearer her family. All her life she loved to write and corresponded with a large circle of friends