Nancy N (Nowack) Noble

Nancy N. Noble, of Plymouth, formerly of Hingham, passed away on Thursday, December 14, 2017, at the age of 87.

She was born Nancy Janet Nowack to Clarence R. and Ruth (Jacobson) Nowack in Chicago, IL on April 12, 1930 and lived her childhood in the then cornfields of Park Ridge, Illinois.  She moved with her family to Ridgewood, NJ when she was in high school and met her future husband of 68 years, Donald Noble, at the Jersey Shore where she was recovering from celery poisoning acquired as part of her farmwork during the war effort.

Nancy went to Stratford College in Danville, VA and received her Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard University where she also pursued an advanced degree. She had a lifelong intellectual curiosity of history as well as of the richness and complexity of spirituality and religious thought. Through the 1960’s and 70’s, she was very involved with the youth at the (UCC) Congregational Church in Hingham and she opened her home to associate ministers that came from many different nations. She welcomed and nurtured several foreign students most notably Nisi Carloni (Mariotti) of Fabriano, Italy who has remained a loving daughter over all these years. She went on to teach English as a Second Language (ELL) in Hingham, Hanover, and Carver Public Schools. She was a consummate educator and her immigrant students thrived not only from her passion for the English language but also from her compassion for and involvement in their lives. She was meticulous in her work as bookkeeper for the family business, Noble Associates, for decades. She has been a dedicated member of New North Church in Hingham for many years.

Nancy enjoyed traveling and sailing to the Caribbean with her husband Donald. She also enjoyed gardening, reading--especially mysteries, watching the Red Sox, nights out at the Boston Symphony, museums, summers on the pond at their home in Plymouth, and at their Condo on Nantucket Sound in West Harwich. Her passion for sport carried on to many of her offspring whom she supported by attending skiing, running, swimming, baseball, dance and rowing events that they participated in all over the world. Her most recent outing was to the Head of the Charles Regatta just this fall.

The trip of her lifetime was a cruise through the Baltic along the coast of Poland/Germany, Sweden and up the coast of Norway which explored her family heritage. She was able to stay on the farm near Trondheim from which her great grandmother Jensen emigrated and which is still owned by her relatives. Family was everything to her and her biggest joy was to bring everyone together and to watch the happy interaction of all whom she loved so deeply. She encouraged, inspired, and lovingly provided for nothing less than the best for everyone in her life. She was a wonderful, loving, intensely caring and devoted woman to all who were blessed to know her. How we all will miss her.

Nancy is the beloved wife of Donald W. Noble, loving mother to Deborah Noble of Concord, VT, Patricia Bailey and her husband John of Fairfield, CT, Craig Noble and his wife Christina of Hingham, Laura Shannon and her husband Michael of Williamsburg, VA, Dr. Stacie Noble Shriver and her husband Gary of Rochester, MA, Linh Tran of Quincy, and the late Pamela Noble-Hill. She is the cherished grandmother to 18 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. Nancy is sister of Patricia Thompson of Tehachapi, CA, and Susan Thanas of Duxbury and is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Visiting hours will be held at the Downing Cottage Funeral Chapel, 21 Pond Street Hingham, on Friday, December 22, 2017 from 3 to 7 p.m. All relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Funeral service will be held at the New North Church, 1 Lincoln Street Hingham, on Saturday, December 23, 2017 at 11 a.m. Interment will be held at the High Street Cemetery in Hingham following the funeral service.

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