Reverend Ruffin Nichols Noisette, of Clemmons, NC, entered into eternal life on Sunday, July 3, 2011. Rev. Noisette was born in Summerville, SC on March 20, 1923, to the late Joseph Edward Noisette, Sr. and Louise Nichols Noisette. Rev. Noisette served the Lord in many capacities. He was the Assistant Dean of the University Chapel at Fisk University and a minister at both Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Rahway, NJ and Bethel A.M.E. Church in Wilmington, DE. He was a member of the First Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church, Delaware Annual Conference, and past president of the Wilmington and New Castle County Council of Churches. In Delaware, he worked as the Deputy Director of the State Office of Economic Opportunity and retired from E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Company as a Professional Staffing Consultant. Rev. Noisette served as a Protestant Chaplain at the Emily P. Bissell State Hospital in Wilmington, DE.
Most recently, Rev. Noisette was an Associate Minister at United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC. Rev. Noisette was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities. Over the years, he was involved with organizations including the NAACP, United Negro College Fund, Y.M.C.A., Boys Club of Wilmington, DE; Delaware Council on Crime and Justice, New Castle County Board of Elections, and Goldey Beacom College of Wilmington, DE. He was a trustee of Delaware State University and a board member of the Delaware Home and Hospital for the Chronically Ill.
Rev. Noisette received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Sociology and Theology from Howard University and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Wilberforce University.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Thelma Anderson Noisette; children, Karin Noisette Clayton and Ruffin N. Noisette, Jr.; siblings, Gladys Noisette Washington, Joseph Edward "Bubba" Noisette, Lurline Noisette, Bettye Jo Noisette, and Helen "Peggy" Noisette.
Left to cherish his memory are Gloria Noisette Howard of Summerville, SC; Shelley Noisette of Clemmons, NC; Robin Noisette Sanders of Atlanta, GA; Louis Ruffin Noisette and (wife) Dionne Brown Noisette of Memphis, TN; Kharma Banks, Merrill Clayton, Jennifer Banks, Karin Sanders, Ashley Banks, Kendra Sanders, Steven Banks, Alexis Noisette, Courtney Noisette; and a host of relatives and friends.
Local funeral services will be held at 12noon Monday, July 11, 2011 at United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church. The family visitation will be held from 11am until 12noon on Monday at the Church. Funeral services will also be held at 11:00am Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at Bethel A.M.E. Church in Wilmington, DE. The family visitation will be held from 10:00am until 11:00am on Wednesday at the Church. Interment will follow in Gracelawn Memorial Cemetery in New Castle, DE.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church Special Needs Ministry or to Hospice of the Piedmont.