Norma Matthews Ward

Norma Matthews Ward, 85, of Wingate, North Carolina, passed away on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Born in Charlotte on April 3, 1940, she was the daughter of the late Clark Matthews and Annie McKinney Matthews. She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Elliot “Doc” Ward, two brothers, Calvin Matthews and Edgar Matthews, two sisters, Bertha Rappe and Judy Allen, and three step-sisters, Josie Mae McKinney, Sadie Barker, and Evelyn Lichte.

Norma graduated from East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte. She began her career with Southern Bell as a switchboard operator and went on to spend 32 years with Eastern Airlines, retiring in 1991. In retirement she continued serving others through home health care, hospice work, and at Union Regional Medical Center. She volunteered with the Wingate Fire Department and the Union County Sheriff’s Office. Together with her husband, she founded Music For a Cure in Union County, organizing benefit fundraisers to support local cancer patients. She found joy in listening to bluegrass and gospel music at The Old Hargett’s Store, spending time outdoors, and being surrounded by her family.

She is survived by her son, Michael Rentz and his wife Ema Veras-Rentz, her daughter, Sharon Rentz, three sisters, Mary Clark, Sarah May and her husband Mayo, and Patricia Duncan and her husband Rick, seven grandchildren, Megan Kirkland, Ryan Kirkland, Rachel Rentz (Samuel Bowman), Emma Rentz, Elisse Rentz, Samuel Rentz, and Isabel Rentz, and one great-grandchild, Oli Bowman.