We recently learned of the death of CUCC member Everette Noland on December 3, 2024 In Nashville, TN. Everette was a member of CUCC from February 21, 1982 until his move out of Wake County. He served in a variety of capacities from member of the Property Committee to chairs of the Finance Committee and the Board of Christian Witness to Moderator. For several years he represented us on the RICH Park Housing board (see below). On muggy summer days, let’s remember Everette with gratitude: it was Everette who made the 1990 motion that CUCC air condition our building, a controversial proposition in our frugal and mission-driven congregation.
Read Everette’s obituary here.
Lavon Page shares this reflection on Everette.
Skip Stoddard recently came across an obituary for Everette Noland, and the obit has now circulated quite widely in the church. Everette passed away in Nashville TN on December 3, and a memorial service will be held in Franklin NC (west of Asheville) sometime in May.
Everette spent little time in Raleigh during the past 10 years, but his roots in the church were deep. Here is the acknowledgement of that fact as it appears in his obit …
“Everette’s commitment to the practice of law led him to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he dedicated 50 years of his career to helping others navigate the complexities of the legal system. His time in Raleigh was enriched by 40 years of being an active member of the Community United Church of Christ on Dixie Trail.”
But the obit doesn’t begin to capture the essence of Everette, and I want to share a bit of that via some memories.
Everette to me was the small town southern courthouse lawyer who had just stepped out of the pages of a John Grisham novel. Slightly disheveled but never at a loss for words. He could chew the fat with anyone, and would do so at great length. One of his roles at CUCC was as the liaison between the church and Rich Park. So at congregation meetings he would routinely rise to update the congregation on news from Rich Park. And he elaborated with all the detail that a good lawyer would provide when trying to sway a jury. And his words were particularly persuasive when some decision was being made. He knew all the ropes. When Mary Pettitt (né Mary Pruneau) coined the phrase “God is not broke”, Everette never let the congregation forget that phrase. And during the long period when Mary was church treasurer and after that when Carol Kepler was treasurer, with Everette working in tandem with them there was never any doubt as to the soundness of the church’s finances. (Back in the early 1980s when inflation went through the roof and interest rates skyrocketed, Everette made sure the church locked in its assets at a high interest rate. And the church benefitted from that for years.)
In spite of his tendencies toward wordiness, Everette knew how to get immediately to the crux of a matter. In one particular instance the wonderful Nancy Keppel served as his foil. Nancy (who passed away over 20 years ago) was herself southern royalty. Her full name was Nancy Peeler Keppel, with the “Peeler” name being the scions of the Cheerwine bottling empire in Rowan County, and the “Keppel” name being the family name most associated with Catawba College in Salisbury. And Nancy was a well known activist and gadfly. At one point Nancy and Everette were serving together on what was then called the Finance Committee. Upon learning that the church had some funds in reserve accounts, Nancy opined, “I don’t think the church should be holding money in reserve. I think we should be using it to do the Lord’s work”.
Everette’s response to Nancy was, “This committee’s got nothing to do with the work of the Lord. We run the business of the church.”
That to me represents the best there is to say about Community UCC. Here were two undisputed leaders in the church who were being as blunt as they could be in the full knowledge that the truth lies somewhere in between.
During the period in 2013 and 2014 when the church was evaluating the potential for acquiring property for sale near the church, Everette was a key part of putting the deal together whereby the church acquired the 6-plex apartment building. The two attached photos are from the closing on that property transaction. Acting for the church are Everette, Carol Kepler , Carol Clark, and Anne Bailey Zschau. And Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd who sold us the property are signing the documents. Our very good relationship with Mr. Lloyd was instrumental in negotiating an opportunity for us to buy the property without it ever being listed “for sale”. Everette was a key part of this process.
