Naomi M. Bluedorn

We three Schultz "children" are pleased to publicly and permanently honor Naomi Muir Bluedorn, class of 1930, by placing her name among those in the Plaza of Heroines at Iowa State University.

Naomi took us three orphaned children, ages 16, 11, and 9, into her home at the age of 27, having just become the mother of a daughter, Ann. The year was 1937. Fortified for the task of tending so many by her Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics from Iowa State and several years of high school teaching, Naomi gave us a lot more than book-learning. Her home became ours. We were enriched by her pride in Iowa State, her emphasis on education, enjoyment of the arts, personal discipline, and community responsibility. Our families were her family and she enjoyed attending events at Iowa State in which her "grandchildren" took part, returning to campus with them as adults to mutually examine the progress (changes) here.

Naomi's is a story of courage, determination, and cooperation in earning her way through college in the Depression Years. Encouraged and sometimes employed by faculty, Naomi sewed her way through her four years, using her talent and skill to achieve her goal. Going off to college, especially from a tiny rural town like Bagley, was not expected by or of young women in those years. Naomi chose it for herself and achieved it herself. It made her a worthy mentor mother-figure, friend, and a heroine.

Donors: Ruth Schultz Hoover (Mrs. Robert J. Hoover), Mary Schultz Barham (Mrs. Ellis Barham), Alfred W. Schultz
11/2/94

Paver Inscription:

"Naoimi M. Bluedorn
Waterloo, Iowa
Mother of Four
Her Own Ann And
Three Schultzes"