Norma E. (Goyer) Kessler (1912-1994) was the daughter of Edward and Clara (Schmidt) Goyer. The family lived in the Ritenour Consolidated School District and Norma graduated the eighth grade in May 1926 from Home Heights School (3238 Marshall) in St. John, St. Louis County, Missouri.

The Ritenour School District was founded in 1846 in a one room cabin, Buck School, at the intersection of Woodson and Lackland Avenue in northwest St. Louis County. In 1867, Buck School and a temporary school for African American children joined to form the rural district of Ritenour. The name was chosen in honor of J.S. Ritenour, a prominent land owner who died on March 29, 1867, and who owned a large tract of land in the vicinity of Lackland and Brown Roads, an area then known as Ritenour Hill. With this merger, Ritenour became the first school district in the St. Louis area to serve African American students. The district presently serves part or all of the following St. Louis County municipalities: Overland, St. John, St. Ann, Edmundson, Breckenridge Hills, Woodson Terrace, Sycamore Hills, Vinita Park, and Charlack.