George Strait sings about love in his popular country songs, but he’s experiencing true romance in real life thanks to his wife, Norma Strait. The music icon and his partner have created a beautiful life together over the last five decades.
“Norma was the first girl I ever loved,” he once gushed, revealing the two “knew each other forever” after growing up in the small town of Pearsall, Texas, where they attended high school together, according to Wide Open Country.
“I never really even thought anything about her, but then one day I asked her out and we went on a date,” the “Amarillo by Morning” crooner continued, noting it took a while for their relationship to progress. “We didn’t see each other for a long time after that.”
However, when George realized something was absent from his life, he reached out to Norma. “One day, I thought, ‘I’m missing the boat here,’ and we started dating again,” he marveled.
The lovebirds eloped on December 4, 1971, when they were both 19. They started their family the following year in October when Norma gave birth to the couple’s first child, daughter Jenifer. Their second kid, son George “Bubba” Jr., arrived nearly a decade later in May 1981.
Tragedy struck the Strait family in the mid-1980s when Jenifer died at age 13. The teenager was killed when a car she was in crashed and rolled over in San Marcos, Texas in June 1986, according to the Jenifer Strait Memorial Foundation website.
Because George and Norma are incredibly private when it comes to their family, they’ve held off on speaking publicly about the tragic experience. However, the Grammy Award winner once praised his love for being by his side through the “good times and bad.”
“Norma and I are so blessed that we found each other … and were able to do all of this together, experience this life together, to support each other through everything,” he said to People in December 2012. “We love each other and we still like each other. A lot!”
Who Is Norma Strait?
Norma is a Texas native who was born on May 18, 1952, according to Country Thang Daily. She grew up in Pearsall, Texas, which is located southwest of San Antonio.
Considering George was constantly juggling his personal life and Hollywood career, Norma was the one who took care of things around the house. While chatting with People in 2012, the “I Cross My Heart” artist credited his spouse for raising their son.
“She stayed home until Bubba got out of high school and went to college,” he explained, noting things have changed now that Bubba is grown up. “Since then, she’s come on the road with me too.”
Norma Helps Run Jenifer’s Foundation
Since Jenifer’s death, the Strait family has kept her memory alive through the Jenifer Strait Memorial Foundation, which was established in 1986.
According to the website, the foundation “promotes charitable causes for children and focuses its donations on various nonprofit organizations, including The Boys & Girls Club in San Antonio and St. Jude’s Ranch.” It has survived “mainly through private donations, which has come mostly by word-of-mouth from friends, and from Strait fans through the years.”
Norma Is a Grandma
In addition to being a mother, Norma is a grandmother to son Bubba’s two kids, George III and Jilliann. At the time Bubba and his wife, Tamara Strait, welcomed their first child in 2012, the legendary musician spoke about the milestone to People, gushing, “This year, my biggest blessing has been our first grandchild.”
Both Bubba and his son have taken an interest in music like George.
“It’s been great to see Bubba get into songwriting, guitar and performing,” George told Cowboys & Indians in December 2022. “I love writing with him and we’ll have some new things for the next record. My grandson played drums for a while and will probably go back to it at some point, but right now it’s baseball for him plus hunting and fishing. I’ve heard a little singing from time to time from my granddaughter. She sounded pretty good. It’s way too early to predict something like that, but I’ll encourage them in whatever it is they decide to do.”
