Norma Gay Borreson Lance

August 9, 1929 ~ April 25, 2020

Norma Gay Borreson Lance, 90, passed away in LaVerne, CA after a long life filled with love and adventure.

Norma was born in Moab where she was raised by her loving parents, Ervin and Anna Borreson. There, she went to school with her future husband, Reed Lance, who teasing called her Ben Gay.

Norma attended the University of Utah, graduating with a degree in Nutrition.

While interning at the VA hospital in Los Angles, she reconnected with Reed who was in the U.S. Navy. They soon married and returned to Moab where they had three children: Reeda, Craig, and Nanette.

Here they led an adventurous life, spending much of their time exploring the back country around Moab. It was a wonderous time for their family. Their interests in archeology, geology, and paleontology were endless.

Later, Norma and Reed moved to Monticello, where Norma lived another 43 years before moving to LaVerne, CA to be with her two loving daughters.

In Monticello, Norma and Reed focused their attention on ancient petroglyphs and soon became local experts on sites throughout Grand and San Juan counties.

One set of petroglyphs they discovered was special, and they felt needed further investigation. It was determined to be a rare solar site. This site was later named the “Lance Site.”

Norma came from simple means but lived her live to the fullest. She worked at the Moab and Monticello hospitals, where she was a nutritionist.

Later in Monticello, Norma was responsible for the school lunch program in the San Juan School District.

Work did not define her life as much as family and adventure. Norma never met a stranger.

After Reed died, Norma became a world traveler, sailing through the Panama Canal and the inside passage to Alaska and visiting ancient sites in Jordan, Turkey, and Jerusalem.

For Norma, life was not measured by the number of breaths she took but by the moments that took her breath away.

Her kindness and generosity will be missed.

She is survived by her children Reeda Coleman, Craig (Leslie) Lance, and Nanette (Guy) Favatella; six grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

San Juan Record

49 South Main St
PO Box 879
Monticello, UT 84535

Phone: 435.587.2277
Fax: 435.587.3377
news@sjrnews.com
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday