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Ralph & Norma Holbrook[/caption] “Reading was Norma Holbrook’s hobby, her passion. She loved reading novels and had her favorite authors.” Those were the words from Norma’s husband Ralph after he made a generous gift to The Library Foundation in honor and memory of Norma. Norma passed away on June 2, 2014. When asked why Ralph made this gift to The Library Foundation in Norma’s memory, Ralph said they have been Friends of the Library for years. They enjoyed using the services of Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library and went to the Friends book sales. When they were doing their wills several years ago, Norma made it clear that she wanted to include the library, so Ralph said that with this gift he was fulfilling her promise. Ralph enjoys reading but said that he didn’t read as much as Norma. He said, “She was a ferocious reader. Back in the days when library books could be mailed, our postman joked that we needed to get a bigger mailbox for all the books we received.” Norma also enjoyed taking their two daughters to the library when they were growing up. Norma Holbrook was a lifelong educator having taught at Metropolitan Junior College in Kansas City, Washburn University and St. Francis hospital. Ralph is a retired pharmacist. Together they took many wonderful cruises including one around Australia and New Zealand.
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