Noel Frederick Nash

Noel F. Nash, born May 25, 1942, died March 27, 2024

USAF 1959-1979 – 2 combat tours in Vietnam – recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross

Noel Nash was born in Howland, ME, to Merle and Pauline Wiley Nash. He was raised in Limestone, NY until the age of 14 and then as a son of Steven and Mavis Smith of Yorkshire NY in 1957.  He entered the United States Air Force in July of 1959 as a metal fabricator and then moved to the flight line as a loadmaster for the C-124, C-47, and C-130 air cargo transports.  He served in Southeast Asia, Okinawa, and 2 tours in Vietnam in combat as a loadmaster for the first tour and as a gunship member of the original AC-47 gunship nicknamed “Puff the Magic Dragon” for the second tour.  After his service in Vietnam, he came stateside to work as a radar operator and manager at various airbases throughout the US and in Newfoundland with the combined Canadian Forces.  After 20 years and attaining the rank of Master Sergeant, he retired from Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.  He briefly came home to Yorkshire to work in the private sector and then moved to Cross City, FL as a radar site manager, a position which he also held at radar sites in NY State and in SC.  He moved permanently to the Summerville area in 1985.  When the FAA took full control of the Jedburg radar site, he continued as a warehouse specialist and then a purchasing specialist at the POMFLANT facility at the Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek, SC.  In 1994 he opened his own computer building and networking business which was open until 2001.  After 9/11, he became a Lead Screener for TSA at the Charleston International Airport.  In 2003, he transferred temporarily to Dulles International in Washington, DC as a screener training specialist and stayed in that until 2005.  In 2006, he retired from TSA.

He married the former Helen Welles of Yorkshire, NY in 1990 and moved her and her son David down to Summerville.

He is survived by his wife, his stepson David (Nichole)Becker of Windham, ME, his older daughter Carol Marie (Edward) Baker of Camden, NY, daughter Cheri Lynn (Bruce)Ely of Hamburg, NY, granddaughters Felicia Roth of Lake Wales, Fl and Tory Baker and grandson Edward Baker and great grandson Silas Andrew Mackay also of Camden, NY, grandsons Alexander, Damon, and Samuel Becker of Windham, ME, several half-siblings in New England and Georgia, and his former sisters-in-law and brother-in-law in various locations.  He was predeceased by his parents, foster parents, and in-laws of both marriages. 

A celebration of life will be held at 4 pm on April 14th at the Grace Alliance Church, 8101 Northside Drive, North Charleston SC 29420.  Memorials in lieu of flowers can be made to the Gideons International, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Wounded Warriors Project. 

Arrangements by PARKS FUNERAL HOME, 130 W. 1st North Street, Summerville, SC 29483. www.parksfuneralhome.com.

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