Raymond Noble Sr., WWII vet, dies
Raymond Noble Sr., a World War II veteran and respected flight instructor, died Thursday after a long battle with kidney disease. The former Levittown resident was 90.
A skilled aviator, Noble provided private flying instruction at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip and at Danbury Municipal Airport in Connecticut, where he once spent time with famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. Noble stopped flying at 83 for health reasons.
"He loved to fly," said his wife of 35 years, Nancy Noble. "All of his students loved him."
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Noble later moved to Queens with his family. He graduated from Flushing High School. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps.
He wanted to be a pilot but the Army made him a lead bombardier, in charge of guiding planes to German targets.
"People would say he was so good he could drop a bomb in your pocket," Nancy Noble said.
After the war, Noble married Betty Kaseler, and the couple settled in Levittown. They had three boys, Raymond Jr., now 61, Thomas, 58, and John, 54, before divorcing after 16 years. Noble spent 22 years in sales, but family members said the job was unfulfilling and he yearned to follow his true passion: flying.
In the 1970s, Noble moved to Connecticut and married Nancy Noble, helping her raise three daughters.
He spent the bulk of his career providing private flight instruction in Danbury.
"People really respected him and thought the world of him," said his son Thomas Noble, who lives part-time with his mother in Levittown.
Noble earned New England's Flight Instructor of the Year award twice, and also received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.
In his final years, Noble suffered from kidney disease and Alzheimer's, the family said.
Noble is also survived by a sister, Nancy; stepdaughters, Katharine, 57, Wendy, 56, and Nancy, 53; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A private memorial service will be held on March 20 in Darien, Conn.
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