John Pritchard Noble Sr. was born on May 31, 1931 in West Palm Beach, Florida to Floyd Grafton Noble Sr. and Aurelia Cecil Pritchard, and subsequently grew up in Albany, Georgia.
At the age of 19, he enlisted in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. He was honorably discharged in 1953 as an Airman Second Class. He specialized in psychological operations (PSYOS) as a photolithographer based in the Philippines. He received the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal.
In 1956 while attending Florida A&M University (FAMU), he met and eventually married Barbara Willafrank Norwood, from Tallahassee, Florida on August 30, 1958, the start of a 58 year romance. He graduated from FAMU in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business and was a life member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
In 1962, he went on to graduate from Columbia University with a Master’s degree in Health Administration. It was that year that the love birds were blessed with their first son, John Pritchard Jr. affectionately nicknamed Chip, as in “a chip off the old block.”
That same year he packed up the family and moved them to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He became the first black executive of the Arabian-American Oil Company (ARAMCO) and was the hospital administrator for the hospitals in Dhahran and Ras Tanura. He was personally interviewed and approved by King Saud as they were to be the first African-America family to live in the kingdom.
While living in Dhahran, the couple was blessed with another bundle of joy, Michael Warren. After seven years in Saudi Arabia, he became the hospital administrator at Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
In 1973, the final stop on the adventure was St. Louis where he became the last hospital administrator for Homer G. Phillips, a historically black teaching hospital where hundreds of young black doctors did their internships and residencies. After the untimely closing of Homer G, he became the Hospital Commissioner of St. Louis. Finally, after personally overseeing the expansion of the Lambert International Airport, he retired as the deputy airport director.
He leaves behind his beloved wife, Barbara Norwood of 58 years; his sons John P. Noble, Jr. and the Honorable Michael Warren Noble and two grandchildren, Michael Warren Noble, Jr. and Sydney Alexandria Noble.
He was a good man who deeply loved his family, country and friends. He will be missed.
