Norman "Norm" Milburn Nugent, 79, of New Providence, passed away on Wednesday, February 16. 2022 in Lancaster. He was the loving husband of Evelyn (Okerstrom) Nugent with whom he shared 55 years of marriage.

Born on September 12, 1942 in Detroit, MI, Norm is preceded in death by parents Austin Milburn Nugent and Edith (Chapman) Nugent Newton, and brothers Marvin and Bruce Nugent.

Supporting himself as a short order cook, Norm enlisted in the United States Navy at seventeen. He served as a Radioman and Chief Petty Officer from 1960 to 1980 during historic events such as the blockade aboard the USS Fort Snelling during the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962. After retirement from the US Navy, Norm embarked on a multitude of careers, first joining the Bell System in California. After the regulatory breakup of the Bell System in 1984, Norm remained with AT&T and moved to the New Jersey campus in late 1985 where he traveled the US providing customer service training. In 1989, he moved from AT&T to the Foster Wheeler Corporation as a Records Retention Specialist managing the engineering firm's archives. Not content just interacting with boxes, Norm found success in a second job uniting his talkative nature and audiophile interests as an audio salesman at Circuit City.

Norm disliked being sedentary, and always enacted grandiose implementations of his hobbies and interests. Leather crafts held his attention in the 1970s, with very period creations of lampshades and belts. At the turn of the decade he became immersed in woodworking, applying his love of machinery (and buying things) with his desire to create. Woodworking remained a strong interest through his retirement, interrupted by a brief period of a large scale model train installation in his Pennsylvania garage.

Disrupting the common perception that people retire to warm places, Norm decamped from Easton, Pennsylvania to the small (and cold!) northern town of Garland, Maine in 2005. In addition to a building dedicated for woodworking, Norm used the trees on their property and became obsessed with making maple syrup. Still craving the need to talk to people, Norm ventured into politics as Selectman for the town of Garland for two terms. The later years of retirement found Norm restless to get back out on the road. In his Foretravel RV he and Ev drove across the United States visiting old friends, family, and many national parks.

After an aggressive Merkel-cell cancer diagnosis in late 2014, Norm later returned to Pennsylvania to be near family. He continued his treatments and headed into successful remission, beating low odds of survival thanks in part to his doctor strongly advocating for new therapies.

Norm loved to talk to people. He would chat and tell stories to anyone that would listen, from wait-staff at restaurants to his nurses at the cancer center. His love for his family was often conveyed through being subjects of his tales.

In addition to his wife, Norm is survived by his children Lisa Nugent Kindt (wife of Robert) and Paul Nugent (partner of Ryan Ludman); granddaughter Amanda Kindt; sisters Anita Smith and Delores Chism; as well as many nieces and nephews.

A Memorial Service will be held at Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory at 3110 Lititz Pike, Lititz, PA 17543 on Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 2:00 PM. Friends will be received at the Funeral Home from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org