BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
Seventy-four years ago, Danny met Norma.
“He was a neighbor and a friend of my niece and nephew, who are about my age,” Norma said. “I met him through them.
But the year was 1945, and most of the men Danny’s age were ready to serve in the military.
Danny enlisted in the United States Navy to do his part in WWII.
Even though Danny had gone across the country for training, Norma, who was in Savoy, still wanted to get to know him better.
“He was just a good person and is still a good person,” she said.
So, they got acquainted through letters.
And Norma knew, “he was the one.”
Not too long after Danny began training, WWII ended.
He returned to his rural home south of Charleston, where his family farmed.
It was harvest season, and Danny was responsible for shucking corn.
“I got 10 cents a bushel for that and I bought her a diamond ring,” Danny said.
That was in November. Come Feb. 26, Danny and Norma will have been married 73 years.
The Tharps, now residents at The Glenwood Assisted Living of Mahomet, still enjoy being with each other.
While they say they’ve had a good life, they also recognized that there were hard times to get through.
One of the hardest moments was when their daughters were three years and four-months-old. Danny fell off an auger and lost his left leg above the knee.
“It was kind of a struggle for a while,” Norma said. “Back then you didn’t make much money. Of course, it didn’t take as much to live, either.”
“Those were hard times, but I’d say we made it through with flying colors.”
Once healed, Danny worked the night shift for a company in Champaign.
“That was kind of hard,” he said.
But the work helped the Tharps move to Mahomet by 1954.
Norma stayed at home with the girls until they were in school, then she was the secretary at Mahomet-Seymour High School for five years before she moved on to the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, where she worked until she retired.
Danny helped build the building located at 609 S. Division St., now occupied by Hill Animal Clinic. Until 1991, Danny used the building for a custom-grind feed store.
“We had feed for animals,” he said. “Two trucks and two hard-working men who were good people. That was pretty successful for us.
“I liked getting out in the neighborhood,” Danny said. “But as you get older, things change.”
In 1963, the Tharps built the home they lived in until 2016 on North Division.
In their late 80’s four years ago, the Tharps’ children sought for them to be closer so that they could take care of them.
“It’s a privilege to grow old, but it’s difficult,” Norma said.
Danny struggles because he is not able to drive anymore, and over the winter, he has been in-and-out of the hospital. Norma struggles to see.
Living out of town with their daughter offered some freedom for the couple while also having a loved one nearby.
“We had our own quarters up there,” Norma said. “And we ate our evening meal with them. But this past June we move back to Mahomet because her husband got ill. She had her hands full. So we came here to to the Glenwood.”
Looking at their window in their 2-bedroom suite, the Tharps can see how much Mahomet has changed. When they moved to the rural town in the 1950’s, its population was close to 500.
“It was a rural area when we moved here,” Danny said. “They had livestock between here and Champaign. We saw Mahomet build up between here and Champaign.”
At first, the Tharps questioned whether or not they were welcome in a town where most of the people were related.
“You’d mentioned a name and ‘Well that was my cousin,’ or ‘that was my brother or their daughter,’” Norma said.
“One person called us foreigners.”
Danny served on the Village board. During his 18-years serving the community, he helped make decisions that have helped the town grow.
“I was on the street commission, so we got some paved streets in town,” he said. “I was really proud of that.
“I enjoyed being in politics. I wasn’t always good at it, but I enjoyed the people.”
Over time, Danny took the “middle of the road” on some issues, but wanted to make sure that the Village had what it needed to prosper.
The Tharps began to prosper, too. They added onto their home, building it room by room to meet the family’s needs.
They were also able to enjoy family time together. They started with a little tent, camping in Michigan and over time they upgraded to a camper and traveled to Florida.
By the mid 1990s, the Tharps spent their winters in Florida. For their 50th wedding anniversary, their daughters and their spouses “kidnapped” the couple and took them to Marco Island.
When they returned to the Tharps’ home in Florida, family had gathered to celebrate their life together.
The Tharps don’t have big plans to celebrate their 73rd year of marriage, but they are happy that they will still be together.
Their life today includes their cat, who burrows in their covers after Norma makes the bed in the morning, then comes out to explore in the late afternoon.
With health issues, Norma and Danny are glad to be back in Central Illinois close to Carle where they can get the medical attention they need.
The Glenwood provides transportation services to and from some doctor appointments, and the Tharps enjoy seeing their daughter who lives in Champaign, when she comes to take them to what they need to do.
Norma is also glad to be back in Mahomet where she can attend their home church, the Mahomet United Methodist Church, on Sundays. Friends take turns picking her up and dropping her off at home.
Most of the Tharps siblings have passed on, as have their friends.
Norma said she still enjoys getting out in the community.
A friend picks her up on Sunday morning to go to the Mahomet United Methodist Church, and another friend brings her home.
Norma and Danny did not expect to live into the 90’s, but they have no complaints.
“Life’s been good,” Norma said.
