Norma G. (Hultgren) Sousa died peacefully on May 20 at the age of 89 in the home she loved in Edgartown.

Norma Sousa was born Sept. 25, 1930, in Meriden, Conn. to Gosta Torsten Hultgren and Tyra Lantz Hultgren, who had both immigrated separately from Goteborg and Jonkoping, Sweden in the 1920s and had settled in Wallingford, Conn. Norma was baptized in the Lutheran Church and was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Wallingford.

Norma grew up in Wallingford with her parents and three brothers. There, she attended Lyman Hall High School. After school, she went to work in the office of Wallace Silversmiths, a manufacturer of sterling silver, where she met her future husband, Joseph Sousa, in the early 1940s. They were apart during Joseph’s service in the U.S. Army during World War II, but reunited after the war and were married in Brewster, N.Y. in 1949, settling together in Wallingford, and raising four children; Joseph, Debra, David and Bryan.

After having her children, Norma worked at Stanley Judd, a division of Stanley Tools, for many years. She also worked at Safety Electric, where she was elected the first female union steward they had ever had. In that role, she successfully fought for better working conditions for her fellow workers. Throughout her life, she was a champion of workers’ rights. Norma moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 1988 to be closer to her daughter, Debbie, son-in-law, Bob, and her beloved grandson, Scott. She loved her life on Martha’s Vineyard and cherished her home in Edgartown, which Bob helped build. She painted the walls herself, installed the fences, planted bushes and built the walkways from treasured found stones.

Norma worked for many years as an office manager at H.N. Hinckley and Sons in Vineyard Haven. She loved working for the Guyther family and always said Nelson Guyther was the best boss she ever worked for. Norma was a very friendly, caring person and enjoyed helping the many customers who came to Hinckley’s.

She loved children and had an innate ability to teach and connect with them. She taught Sunday school at the Zion Lutheran Church in Wallingford and, on the Island, she volunteered as a reading mentor at the Edgartown School. She

loved sharing her lifelong love of books with children. She later became a substitute teacher on the Vineyard, mostly working at the Edgartown School. 

Norma was a great cook and loved to feed people, especially those she loved. For many years, Norma was a member of the Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven, where she happily served her homemade soups at the church’s soup suppers.

She also volunteered at Sail Martha’s Vineyard when it was first beginning, for the Salvation Army, the Island Food Pantry and The Edgartown Council On Aging’s Food Distribution for the Elderly program. 

Her favorite beach was Squibnocket Beach in Chilmark. Shortly after moving to the Island, she began driving up there on Saturday mornings with her dog, J.P., stopping first at Humphrey’s Bakery in West Tisbury to get a “Belly Buster” chocolate-covered cream doughnut and coffee. She would sit on the rocks with her dog, coffee and doughnut and bathe in the beauty. 

Norma is predeceased by her husband, Joseph Sousa, of Wallingford and her brother, Milton Hultgren, of Kennebunk, Maine. 

She is survived by her daughter, Debra Yapp and her husband, Robert, of West Tisbury; son, Joseph Sousa, and his wife, Susan, of Wallingford; son, David B. Sousa and his wife, Heather; and son Bryan, a native of Connecticut, and his family. She is also survived by her brother, Everett Hultgren, and wife, Nancy, of Cheshire, Conn. and brother, John Hultgren, and wife, Ruth, of Surfside Beach, S.C. and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Norma will be interred in a private family graveside ceremony in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven. A celebration of her life will be announced at a later date.

In Norma’s memory, read a book to a child, bake your loved ones a special treat, or get a “Belly Buster” from Humphrey’s Bakery and enjoy it at Squibnocket Beach. Donations in her name can also be made to the Salvation Army online at salvationarmyusa.org/usn/ways-to-give/. 

For online guestbook and information please visit ccgfuneralhome.com.