“A Life Well Spent”
Late Tuesday night, October 18th 2011, Harry Norman Nolette, formerly of Kent Co. Delaware, passed from this world from the effects of a stroke. At 81, he lived a long and full life, fathering six children in his first marriage to Marjorie Beyer of Delaware and three more in his second marriage to Angela Nolette. Along the way he’d been a farmer, had worked and retired from Bell Atlantic after 27 years of service, became one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and was baptized on December 7, 1969 and enjoyed 19 years of full time ministries. He loved raising roses and was always giving them away to share the joy he felt in them. But all these things are facts that do little to explain all he was. A seemingly tireless bear of a man with a deep, resonant voice, he seemed to a lot of people intimidating at first. Once you talked to him for any longer than a minute, you realized that inside, he was a kind and generous man who would gladly help anyone he could, whether it was working on a car with a friend or (sometimes quite literally) giving someone the shirt off his back. It became a family joke when something would disappear around the house that Dad had probably given it to someone who needed it which was often indeed the case. He was an active man, always busy doing something. Whether it was working or fixing things around the house or going house to house as one of Jehovah’s Witnessess he was always moving. He got great joy from teaching about the Bible to people and always had a kind word or thought to share based on scripture. If he were still here, I know what he would say to the grieving family, he’d share with them his firm belief in the hope of resurrection and the scripture Ecc. 7:1 “A name is better than good oil, and the day of death is better than the day of one’s birth.” Dad, you will be missed by all of us, but you certainly had ‘a life well spent’.
Survived by his wife of 33 years, Angela Nolette, his sister, Arlene Butler and his brother David Nolette. He was also survived by his sons Michael, Chris, Jeremy, and Gabriel Nolette, his daughters Deborah Taylor, Susan Monaco, Karen DaFonte, and Jessica Nolette. His grandchildren are Sean and Brandon Monaco, Cristin Nolette, Davey Nolette, Rick and Robert DaFonte and Chase Tocknell. He was preceded in death by his son Curtis (Pepe) Nolette.
A memorial service will be held Friday, October 21, 2011 at 5:30 in the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on River Lane and Sparta Highway in Crossville, TN. The speaker will be his friend Veral Vanwinkle.