Norman Latta

Norman Wesley Latta, age 94, beloved father, brother, grandfather, and great-grandfather was received into the arms of his Heavenly Father on June 28, 2026 at his home in Prairie Homestead of Wichita, Kansas. He was born on June 14, 1932 in Runnymede, Kansas on the Kingman County side, the son of Clarence and Geneva (McCully) Latta. Norman always liked to point out that since he was born on Flad Day, people always flew the American flag for his birthday. He attended one room schoolhouses in the Runnymede area and then Sunnyslope before going to Harper High School, graduating with the class of 1950.

Norman met a pretty, red-headed nurse aide, Joyce Montague, when visiting with his mother in the Anthony Hospital in 1951. On May 25, 1952, he and Joyce were joined in holy matrimony at the First Baptist Church in Anthony. The couple built a home next to his parents’ home, where he worked with his father on their wheat and dairy farm. Joyce managed their household and growing family. They were blessed with four children, with whom they faithfully attended the Chicaskia Baptist Church.

Norman was well known and admired for his work as a dairyman. In a cover article in the national trade publication, Hoard’s Dairyman, he credited his success to the fact that he treated each cow “like a lady.” He went on to become a successful district sales manager for the American Breeders Service. Norman and Joyce moved to Wichita in 1996, where he became active in the Metropolitan Baptist Church (now Stonebrook Church). As a young man, Norman had dreamed of becoming a minister. He began working as a chaplain for boys in a juvenile detention facility and was ordained into the ministry in 2009, fulfilling this boyhood dream.

Norman’s love of travel and of meeting new people took him and Joyce all over the world, including: Thailand, Japan, and Korea, where they visited exchange students they had hosted and befriended.

Norman was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Mary Fishel; his brothers, Edwin and Gilbert; and his infant sister, Pauline. He leaves to mourn his passing his wife of 74 years, Joyce; his children: David (DeGaye) Latta, Eric (Judy) Latta, Susan (Kevin) Weiberg, and Sara (Tony) Liss; grandchildren: Cassie and Ross Latta, Joshua, Jenny, and Beth Latta, Erika, Jenna, and Garrett Weiberg, Alison, Caitlin, and Eli Liss; 22 great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews; other relatives and friends. He will be missed by friends and family alike.

A private family interment will take place at the Harper Cemetery.

Celebration of Life service is 10:00 a.m. Saturday, August 22, 2026 at Stonebrook Church, 9701 W 53rd St N, Maize, Kansas.

Memorial contributions may be made to: Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, Amarillo Texas; Boys Town of Boys Town, Nebraska; Doctors Without Borders, New York, New York; Union Rescue, Wichita, Kansas; Salvation Army, Wichita Kansas; or Stonebrook Church, Maize, Kansas.

Prairie Rose Funeral Homes, 613 W 14th St ~ Harper, Kansas 67058