Donald Upton Noblett died at home amid his loving family on Monday, October 10, 2011, just three days short of his 85^th birthday.  His parents were the former Ralph S. Noblett and Florence M. Smith of Cleveland, Ohio.  They were staunch Episcopalians.

Don graduated from the Case Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and first worked as a research chemist for The Glidden Company in Cleveland. It was while working there  that he met and married his wife, Vivian, who had grown up in the Evangelical Congregational Church. The search for a “middle ground” in church participation landed them in the Presbyterian Church, to which each of them would devote significant time and energy throughout their marriage.

In time Don realized that he was not at all interested in spending his career at Glidden, but rather wanted to devote his gifts to helping people. He thus returned to his alma mater as an Assistant Director of Admissions; then became Director of Admissions at Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio; and finally becoming Director of Admissions of Lafayette College in 1958. At Lafayette he subsequently was appointed Director of Development; Director of College Planning; and lastly Director, then Vice President of Physical Planning and Operations. His service to Lafayette spanned 34 years.

As previously mentioned, Don gave much of his life to serving his Lord Jesus Christ through the Presbyterian Church.  He and Vivian joined the College Hill Church of Easton in October of 1959. He served in the congregation as an elder, a deacon and a trustee. He also answered the high calling to serve the greater church as a member of numerous committees in Lehigh Presbytery and the Synod of the Trinity. He was Moderator of Lehigh Presbytery in 1974, and then its Stated Clerk from 1997-2005. He was an Elder Commissioner to the General Assembly in Chicago in 1970, and was Moderator of the Synod of the Trinity from 1994-96.

As a result of his involvement in the Synod, Don and Vivian were asked to be part of a delegation to a meeting of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Debrecen, Hungary in 1998. While there they met and enjoyed the friendship of the Rev. Kata Baczoni who, with her husband, pastor the Hungarian Reformed Church in Sovata, Romania. Thus began a partnership between the College Hill and Sovata congregations, to which Don and Vivian gave much time and energy over the last 13 years.

Don’s other great love was the Boy Scouts of America. In 1939 he became a Boy Scout with Troop 301 in Bratenahl, Ohio, reaching rank of Life. In Easton he became Pack 3 Cubmaster, then Troop 3 Scoutmaster during which sons Jeffrey and Bruce attained Eagle Scout rank. Don served the Minsi Trails Council on the Executive Board, as Council Commissioner, and as Weygadt Trustee. He received the Silver Beaver Award in 1978, the God and Service Award in 2001, and the 50 Year Service award in 2006.

Don is survived by his wife, Vivian, sons Jeffrey and Bruce, daughter Judith, who is currently an elder of the College Hill Church, six grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

Don was a true embodiment of the Reformed combination of “order and ardor.” His combination of precision and grace, faith and humor, will be greatly missed.

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Robert G. (Bob) MacIntyre, whose good spirit was matched by a good heart, said his greatest regret was not entering pastoral ministry as soon as he could. But divine providence being what it is, God wove threads together so that Bob’s gifts and God’s desire for both the Olivet United Presbyterian Church and Lehigh Presbytery were in rhythm. For that, to God alone goes the glory.

A native of Kingston, Pennsylvania, in Luzerne County and Lackawanna Presbytery, Bob’s roots in the church were deep, but not entirely traditional. The church he called home, Church of Christ Uniting in Kingston, was a federated church between the Presbyterian Church and the United Church of Christ. This exposure to two compatible but different understandings of God and church left a lifelong impression on Bob, one to which he would often refer. He was heavily involved in that congregation, serving on a number of committees that would prepare him for later pastoral ministry, but it is safe to say that none of these meant any more to him than his service as an advisor to the Youth Fellowship.

After graduating from Wilkes College, Bob worked as a project design engineer in satellite communications at the Tobyhanna Army Depot for twelve years. Although he later regretted not entering seminary after his college education, this engineering experience not only gave him valuable skills for his future ministry, but taught him important life lessons which he was quick to share. In 1995 he heeded God’s call, entering Princeton Theological Seminary, thoroughly enjoying his time there, and contributing to the life of that community in a variety of ways. In particular he was involved in seminary stewardship, student representative to the department of Practical Theology, and frequent chair of hunger-related activities. He received his Master’s of Divinity in May 1998, and was ordained in Lackawanna Presbytery in October of that year. His ministry at the Olivet United Church began on September 20, 1998. He became the eighth installed pastor in the 112-year history of the Olivet United Presbyterian Church.

This has been a full ministry, and many of the threads  from his past were woven into his Olivet and Lehigh Presbytery experience. He served on the Boards of ProJeCt, Safe Harbor, Wee Care Day Care, Crop Walk,  the Interfaith Council and Habitat for Humanity. He was also president of the Board of Trustees of the Lehigh Presbytery from 2005-2011 and member of the Camp and Conference Committee since 1999, including a valuable role in the camp futuring discussions.

Bob personified the best of “hail fellow well met,” at ease in conversation with anyone, quick to share a laugh, and keen to show his care and concern. This spilled over into his commitment to Jesus Christ, for his conversations easily turned to his faith, a faith he took seriously but held lightly, aware that the  mysteries of God remain beyond us. This care and concern included even those who did not share his evangelical beliefs, or even Christian faith. Even as he was quick to give candy to his Muslim neighbors in his apartment building, he was just as quick, and even more grateful, to accept their prayers.

Those prayers were needed all the more beginning in early 2011, when a series of unexplained health concerns were determined to be signs of life-threatening cancer. In the Gospel of John, Jesus suggests that in Lazarus’ illness and death God’s glory is to be revealed. In the blog he posted to share his situation with the congregation, Bob wrote

“While it might be easy to take a pollyannish view of things or it might be easy to focus on the negative, I choose instead to recall to whom I belong.  While treatments might be a big part of my story in the weeks to come, I refuse to let them be what defines me.

“Rise up, come to our help.  Redeem us for
the sake of your steadfast love.” [Psalm 44:26]  …

I see in these few brief words a reminder of where our help comes from ….  As I face whatever lies before me, I do so assured of the steadfast love that God has for me, a love revealed in the life, death, resurrection, ascension and the promised return of Jesus Christ.”

As his mother Gladys, brother Jim, cousins Sue, Jeff, and Jay, nieces Aarika and Kara, and all the saints of the Olivet United Presbyterian Church remain in our prayers, let us also give thanks to God for one whose faithfulness embodied his life and ministry. If our charge is to teach believers with our lives, then to Bob through the Spirit we say,

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”