Norm Yoder

Norm Yoder has been a pinnacle member of the DeKalb County community for many years and has served and prospered in it in many forms. He owned his own construction company, and after selling at the age of 50, he looked for new ways to be involved and serve the community. A few people thought the Mayor would be a good fit. As he says, “A group of people thought I would be a good candidate to be Mayor. They thought more highly of myself than I thought of myself at the time, to be honest with you. I’ve always been involved in community projects, cared about the community, served on the board of works, the library board, other things, and I thought that’d be kind of interesting. I ran, and 20 years later, here I am.”

On December 31st, 1999, Norm took office as the 17th mayor of Auburn. The reason for such an odd date? The Y2K scare. According to Yoder, officials were concerned and thought the Mayor should take office ahead of the millennium’s changing because if the world came to an end, they wanted to put it on somebody’s shoulders. The new guy was probably better than the old guy. 

Over the past twenty years and five terms, Norm took on many projects. Two of the most significant projects in his career were updating and modernizing Auburn’s computer systems and opening Rieke Park on the city’s north end. He has also watched as the Auburn Skate Park, a passionate initiative of his, has finally come to fruition. 

Now retired, Norm again looks for a new way to serve his community. His family is no stranger to the not for profit sector, especially in DeKalb County. His wife, Peggy, served on the Community Foundation board for many years. So with retirement under his belt, Norm has decided to take on a brand new challenge to serve DeKalb County, become a board member for the Community Foundation of DeKalb County.