Noel Joseph Thomas
Noel Joseph Thomas was born on December 21, 1933, in Wellsville, New York to William Henry Thomas (1895-1978) and Mary Elizabeth Fink (1901-1974). The family originated outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where their roots run deep into the 1700s among the earliest German and French Catholic settlers of the region. Their Catholic identity was strong and over the years a number of men and women from the extended family entered the Church. Noel’s uncle, the Very Reverend Ruellen P. Fink, was a leader in the Augustinian Order; his brother Basil was an Augustinian Brother.
Noel grew up with three older siblings: William R. Thomas (1926-2020), Basil F. Thomas (1927-1983) and Helen Thomas Egner (1930-1914). Their father was a house painter and skilled craftsman who repaired antique furniture for clients across New York. As a boy, Noel acquired his father’s comfort with tools and love of the outdoors; they hunted and fished together as a family, putting food on the table in hard times. Noel graduated from Wellsville High School in 1951 and took his skills in mathematics and science to Clarkson University in Potsdam. Not being able to afford a car, he would often hitchhike the 250 miles home across the North Country, even in winter. Thus began his lifelong love of travel.
Graduating in 1955 with a degree in Civil Engineering, Noel worked on projects connected with the St. Lawrence Seaway and Chesapeake Bay Bridge, among others around the country. By 1957, Noel had joined the Army and was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco where he trained as a forward observer for artillery, but was assigned for much of his stint to mapping expeditions in the remote White Mountains along the California-Nevada border.
After returning to the Presidio, Noel met and quickly fell in love with Patricia Ellen Kappel, a young Registered Nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital. The couple who introduced them, Dr. Sandro and Mary Sandri, became lifelong friends. In later years, Noel and Pat would talk fondly of those early days in San Francisco, reminiscing about sourdough bread, seafood at the “real” Fisherman’s Wharf, and the folk music clubs of the day. They married on June 4, 1960 and soon had their first child. Looking ahead at future career prospects, Noel entered graduate school as a full time student at Stanford University, often studying and solving problems with a baby in his lap, as Pat worked night shifts to support the new family. He graduated from Stanford with a Masters in Engineering and the family soon relocated to Signal Mountain, Tn., following a job offer from the Dupont Corporation.
Together, on Signal Mountain, Noel and Pat created a rich and nurturing life that sustains their children still. Family and faith were always at the center of their world. Having once made the mountain their home, Noel later turned down several opportunities for advancement that would have meant uprooting the family. As early members of the local Catholic community, they were active in the parish even before the church itself existed and raised their children to pursue moral and spiritual lives with compassion for others. Noel served on the parish council and was a key engineering and planning advisor to the parish throughout the process of building St. Augustine church.
Noel and Pat valued education highly, encouraging their children to enjoy learning for its own sake and to pursue that learning wherever it might lead. Both loved to read and discuss, and passed these traits on to the family. Noel also passed on his love of travel; whether taking a Sunday drive to a local waterfall or crisscrossing the country in search of National Parks to explore, he always stopped for scenic overlooks and historical markers, teaching the importance of recognizing both the natural beauty and the human story of the landscape. Noel also enjoyed gardening and was an early advocate of landscaping with indigenous plants and creating large natural areas rather than the stereotypical suburban lawn. He designed the family house, maintaining native woodland around it, and over the years built his own additions such as the decorative brick patio enjoyed by the family all summer long.
Professionally, Noel worked at the Dupont plant in Chattanooga for some 20 years. During this time he was also active in the local Society of Civil Engineers, serving as vice-president, then president for a time, and helped to bring the Apollo 17 astronauts for a speaking tour to Chattanooga. He was an active member of the Chattanooga Engineering Task Force advisory team which he chaired in the mid-1970s, and did pro bono engineering design work for the town of Signal Mountain.
Eventually, in 1983, Noel was transferred by Dupont to Charlotte, N.C., where he served as engineering project manager overseeing several facilities across the Southeast. After retirement, he worked as a consulting professional engineer with Performance Engineering of Pineville, NC. In Charlotte, Noel and Pat continued to garden, play bridge, travel, and make new friends, but their favorite pastime was still sitting in the patio, surrounded by flowers, visiting with family, friends, and neighbors, sharing stories, and keeping up on the adventures of their children and grandchildren.
In his final years, after the loss of his loving wife of 59 years, Noel returned home to Signal Mountain and passed away at Alexian Village on March 15, 2026. He is survived by their four children with their spouses and families: Michael and Lauren (Bailey); Michelle and Brian (Burns); Mary and Don (Breece) with their children Lindsay, Rachel and Drew, and grandchildren; and Mark and Jaime with their sons and daughters-in-law Matthew and Isha (Deo), and Aaron and Kelsie. Noel kept close ties with Peter Thomas, son of his brother Bill Thomas and wife Ann, as well as Dewey and Sara Thompson, two of his oldest friends in the Chattanooga area.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Augustine Catholic Church, 1716 Anderson Pike, Signal Mountain, Tn. at 11 a.m. on April 24, followed by an internment ceremony. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Habitat for Humanity or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory, and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, Tn. 37343.
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com.