Norma Catherine (Rhodes) Mattingly

Norma Catherine (Rhodes) Mattingly, born on January 18th, 1925, passed away peacefully at home in her sleep at age 100 on August 12, 2025.

Her life was marked by the kindness and gentle care she shared with the world. Her passing has left a void in all those that have been touched by her and she will be deeply missed.

She is survived by her daughter, Melanie Maria Deal (Ken), her granddaughters, Lauren Marie Deal-Pederson (Ryan), and Kathleen Mattingly Deal, and her sister, Florence Vessels.

Norma lived a full life that started in Rhodelia, Kentucky. She was a hard-working child of farm folk, and helped to take care of her three sisters and four brothers. She was the valedictorian of Flaherty High School when it was a girl’s boarding school, and was clever as a whip. Later in life she met her husband, James Wilbur Mattingly, and they were in love all of their lives. She traveled with him across the US and World as an army wife and homemaker where they adopted their daughter Melanie in Berlin, Germany. Norma was an exceptional mother and grandmother. Her ability to make clothes by just looking at them once was a talent most do not have. She loved to make fried chicken, ginger cookies, and pies, was an expert quilt maker as well as an avid and protective gardener of her tomatoes.  She had a knack for making people laugh, and had a sensitive soul.  She will be forever missed.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12:00 Noon on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church with Rev. Michael Martin officiating. Burial will follow in Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central in Radcliff, KY. Visitation will be held at the funeral home from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM on Monday and at the church from 11:00 AM until the time of mass on Tuesday. A vigil service will be held at 6:00 PM on Monday evening at the funeral home.