Recently recognized by the Ohio Funeral Directors Association for his service, one employee at Webb-Noonan, said it’s Noonan’s care for families and employees that is behind the business’s continued success and community respect.
But it’s hard to tell if it was so many years in the business that shaped Noonan into the reserved, strong man he is or merely the depth and compassion of his character. His seemingly naturally soft voice and comforting hand on the shoulder suggest it may be a little bit of both.
While he may call himself “retired,” Noonan was dressed in a black suit and pastel yellow tie Monday, May 3, to assist with the funeral of another local family. He sat with his hands clasped but shaking on the desk before him, his blue eyes sharpening as he recalled people met and friends lost over the years.
“When you first start out in the business, you bury acquaintances. But as you are going through life, you start burying friends and it takes more out of your system,” he explained.
His children, Tom and Diane, remember long hours and pages on Sunday afternoons and holidays when someone had passed away. It was never a cause for resentment, but another facet of his responsible and caring nature. It’s the reason strangers come up to them on the street to tell them how their dad helped pay for a loved one’s funeral or covered a utility bill.
“He’s just a very hardworking man who came from nothing and built it up. I can’t put it into words,” Diane said. “If he wasn’t my dad it would be a privilege just to be his friend.”
Noonan said he doesn’t know the secret to his success, other than being natural and helpful in a time where he says “all the barriers are down and you see the true picture of people.”
Likewise, there is little he can say for how he deals emotionally with the death and sorrow of the job. For the most part, he blocks it out — all accept for the funeral of one child he would not give details on but said sticks intensely in his mind.
“You can’t spend your whole life remembering all the bad circumstances. You have to erase those and put them out of your mind,” he said.
It’s wisdom he can put to practice in more than just funerals.
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