Norma Matheson, a former first lady, the matriarch of the state’s most prominent Democratic family, and “the godmother of the party,” died late Sunday after battling leukemia. She was 89.
Friends remembered Matheson as a gracious, thoughtful friend, an astute political strategist and a trailblazer for women in politics at a time when there were few role models.
Norma Warenski was born in Nephi in 1929, the daughter of a country doctor. The family moved to Philadelphia and then San Francisco as her father went back to medical school to become an obstetrician.
They moved back to Salt Lake City where she met her future husband, Scott Matheson while they were attending East High School.