"Pictures of classmates class of 1924—1929

Norma June Kadau
Girl with hat and feathers covering the side of her face

This photo was probably taken in 1929 just after Norma graduated from Baker High School. Norma was born 3 June 1911 in Alpena, Michigan to Ernest Charles Kadau and Kate Anderson. Her father had been to Baker earlier in his life.


Around the turn of the century, at the height of the Sumpter gold rush, Norma’s father, Ernest Charles, and his brother August traveled to Sumpter with some of their friends. They worked felling trees to supply timber for the mines. However, the work was hard and the conditions poor. August became ill with the measles. Ernest Charles brought August back home to Alpena, but despite their best efforts to nurse him back to health, he died on the 21 April 1904 as the result of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Ernest Charles married Kate Anderson on 8 September 1909 in Alpena, Michigan. Norma was their second child of five. For reasons that we still don’t know, Norma’s mother Kate was institutionalized at the Pontiac State Mental hospital on 4 February 1919 where she was a patient until her death at 6:45 PM on Christmas Eve in 1923. There are family stories about a child that was born to Kate while she was in the hospital – presumably as a result of rape. The child, possibly a boy named “William” or “Billy”, was raised by Ernest Charles until it was a toddler when it was given up. Norma, the oldest living child in the family, had grown attached to the baby and reportedly retrieved the child and brought it back home. This may have happened more than once. In 1925, Ernest Charles married Florence Louise Huey. Sometime between 1925 and 1928, the family moved to Baker leaving “Billy” behind. Norma decided to leave the home of her father and step—mother and strike out on her own. At the age of 17, she stayed in Baker while her family moved on to Aumsville, Oregon.

This photo would have been taken when Norma was supporting herself just out of high school working as an office girl and book keeper for the Anderson Electric Company. Norma would have been living as a lodger at 2419 Campbell Street in Baker. Norma lived in Baker until 1932 when she moved to Boise, Idaho. She never married and travelled around the western states finding work where she could. As far as I can tell, she didn’t have much interaction with her family after she left home and she died alone on 3 October 2004 in North Hollywood, California.

I hope this helps. I have many sources to support the information above and a lot more information about her and her family. If anyone in the future has questions about Norma, please feel free to give them my contact information:



Brad Stone

c. 801—822—9265

h. 801—229—1010

brad@stonefoundation.net