Norman Henry Hartz

Norman Henry Hartz, 88, a genuine cowboy, passed away on October 3, 2026.

He was born July 7, 1938, to Henry Hartz, Jr. and Inez (Clark) Hartz in Martinez, California, where his sister, Peg, was also born five years later. Around 1944 they moved to Alhambra Valley where Norman completed his growing up years.

From childhood, he knew he wanted to be a cattle rancher. He was an enthusiastic member of the Alhambra Valley 4-H club and his first ventures in being a livestock producer started young, raising rabbits and hogs and exhibiting them at the Contra Costa County Fair. Norman was a fun-loving kid with a great sense of humor that he carried with him all his life, and one of his fun memories was the annual greased pig scramble which occurred during a break in the rodeo events. "I caught one every year," Norman wrote in his informal memoir he began when he was 77. Along with agricultural pursuits while growing up, he loved hunting and fishing, high school football and track, girls, his Model A Fords, and hanging with friends, many with whom he maintained friendships his whole life. "My high school friends and I were all rowdy, jolly good fellows. If any of us got into trouble at all, it was usually just for minor things."

Norman joined the Navy immediately after high school, where he spent his two years of active duty on an LSM (Landing Ship Medium) that patrolled the southern California coastline and established more lifelong friendships. After active duty, Norman married Sharon Shelby, his high school girl friend, and attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where he majored in animal husbandry while serving out his four years of Navy reserves. The summer after his sophomore year, Marianne was born. In Norm's words, "Our darling baby girl Marianne was born 4th of July."

After Norman graduated college, his second child, "our good guy John" was born on September 21, 1962, and soon after, they moved to Tehama, California (near Red Bluff) where Norm began work on a cattle ranch, and that began his lifelong career as a cattleman/cowboy that spanned ranches from California to Hawaii to Oregon, having passed up offers of several lucrative state jobs. Norman always followed his own north star, and later wrote, "I knew I was passing up an excellent career opportunity. I wanted to work on cattle ranches and that's what I did."

In 1963 Norman took the job of foreman on a 7000-acre ranch in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Valley, "beautiful ranch country" in Santa Barbara County, and while in that position was featured in a cover article for the magazine "Agrichemical West."

Norman moved his family to the Big Island of Hawaii in 1969 and became ranch supervisor for Hawaiian Ranch Company, where he learned the pidgin English spoken there by the mix of cultures on the ranch, and where he bonded with his fellow cowboys, "paniolos" in Hawaii. "The guys I worked with on the cowboy gang taught me more than four years of agricultural college and all the work I had done on ranches before… Some of the best workers, cowboys, you name it, I have had the privilege to work with in my life. Also, some of my best friends."

When Norman's marriage to Sharon came to an end in 1973, he moved back to the mainland. After six weeks of roaming the western states that summer with Marianne and John, camping, hiking, swimming in lakes and rivers all around California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and Oregon, Norman landed in Corvallis, Oregon, where he met the love of his life, his "darling Karen" while attending horseshoeing school at Oregon State University that fall.

Norman and his buddies from class often enjoyed a few beers at the local cowboy lounge, The Lamplighter, where a waitress caught his eye. "She was about the prettiest woman I have ever seen. I found out her name was Karen. Little did I know what was about to happen in my life."

And there began a fifty-three-year romance – that continues in another form. Norman and Karen married on April 26, 1974, Norman adopted Karen's son, his "good guy Jeremy," and Norman took the job of foreman on a 700-acre cattle ranch near Monmouth, Oregon, "a beautiful little ranch" along the banks of Little Luckiamute River. On July 13, 1975, "good guy Aaron" was born. "I was overjoyed to have another child. All of my children are one of the best parts of my entire life, and also, my loving Karen."

The three boys grew up on the Monmouth ranch, often working with their dad. Marianne, who lived with Sharon (first in Hawaii and later in Eugene, Oregon) would often visit. She remained his "darling little girl" and they maintained a strong bond.

This was an idyllic time in Norman's life. He worked this ranch for twenty-two years, the first couple of years as foreman and in 1977 took on the business, buying the cattle and equipment and leasing the land from the owner, Bob Fitzgerald. Now he was in the cattle business for himself. He adored his Karen and his children and was doing the work he loved. "I wouldn't trade my life's work for anything," he wrote. During this time, he was once again featured in a cover story, this time for "Oregon Farmer-Stockman."

When John became old enough to take on some responsibilities on the ranch, Norman and Karen began a life-long adventure of travel in the fall – between haying and calving seasons (also with the help of Karen's mother and sisters for childcare while Jeremy and Aaron were young). Later, the younger boys also took on ranching responsibilities. Norman's memoir is filled with the many adventures he had with his beloved Karen, exploring almost every European country (multiple times to some countries), interspersed with travel to Mexico, and cruises to the Caribbean, Hawaii and Alaska.

In 1992 Norman and Karen bought an eighty-acre parcel in the foothills of the coast range west of Salem and eventually built a chalet-style house (inspired by their love of Switzerland) that had windows with panoramic views of the Willamette Valley and the Cascade Mountains. They called this property "the little ranch." They moved there in 1996, and Norman maintained about thirty head of cattle that he worked into his retirement years. Norman and Karen enjoyed many peaceful years on "the little ranch."

In later years Norman suffered numerous health setbacks and eventually had to sell the cattle and property. From 2019, he received excellent care at Amore Care in West Salem, visited often by his Karen and also sustained with multiple daily phone calls with each other. Profound thanks to Katie, Angela, Susie, and all the caregivers over the years.

Norman is survived by his loving wife, Karen, his sister Peg (Bob), his children Marianne Solis (Fernando), John Hartz (Shauna), Jeremy Hartz (Maranda) and Aaron Hartz, as well as grandchildren Amy James Hartz (Ethan), Brent Snelgrove, Lauren Madsen and Henry Hartz.

A true salt-of-the-earth good guy who maintained his humor till the end, Norman will forever be loved and missed by all who knew him, and who also celebrate that he is now "ridin free."

There will be no service, per Norman's request.