Paul Eugene Noble, 87, of Milford, passed away peacefully in the early hours of May 14, 2021 after giving his beloved wife, Donna, a three-year head start to Heaven.

Milfordians might well remember Paul as their friendliest postman or as the most powerful voice in the choir. His was a life of humble service and after-work tales framed by song and laughter, often in the company of friends at the Kimberly Diner.

He was born in Somerville, Massachusetts but moved to Milford as a teen after his father became an iron worker amid the post-war construction boom. 

Paul attended Milford High, where he excelled in basketball, and honed his faith and strong singing voice at Grace Baptist Church. In his teens, he worked as a caddy and was a fair golfer. After he suffered a serious knee injury while playing basketball for his seminary college, Paul became a coach to boys’ basketball teams in Milford.

The aching knee didn’t deter him from joining the U.S. Postal Service, beginning a 32-year career as a letter carrier. Nor did it stop him from roller-skating, where one fateful night he met Donna Harvey at the Lordship rink. They married in 1962, moved into a small home on Oldroyd Street in Devon, and had two daughters.

Paul was an avid fisherman at Cedarhurst Lake and across Connecticut. He loved passing on his skills with a rod to family and friends. When vacationing each summer in New Hampshire, Paul would explore lakes and streams for the perfect catch, and return with tales of the one that got away.

Paul loved a good joke, and couldn’t resist bad ones either. He was well known for his one-liners and often received joke books as gifts.

For years he double-jobbed to pay the bills: letter carrier by day, unloading trucks at the Port of New Haven by night with the Teamsters.

His postal route took in Bic Pens, Schick Razors and Subway’s global HQ. It covered hundreds of Milford households, whose own stories he often recalled with fondness. He kept a special spot in his heart for their dogs – one of whom, Skippy, often rode shotgun in his delivery van.

Paul’s father and mother, Harry and Hilda, lived on the Naugatuck Avenue stretch of his route. He stopped in daily to check on his mother and to help with her insulin shots. After she passed in 1968, Harry joined Paul, Donna and the girls as they moved together into a bigger home on Rita Lane.

Pastor Alan Ellis became a beloved family support, deepening the Nobles’ faith along the way. They joined him at the United Pentecostal Church in Milford, which became Cornerstone Christian Center, where Donna served as secretary and Paul as a church elder.

Paul would check the church doors on Meadow Street each morning on the way into the post office. Every Sunday, his strong tenor-baritone led the choir. His favorite hymn was “How Great Thou Art.”

After retiring from the Post Office, Paul worked security at Schick and delivered car parts for Colonial Toyota. In his later years, he could be found most mornings at the Milford Senior Center playing pool with friends, singing in the Senior Center Choir, or walking in Eisenhower Park, collecting golf and tennis balls along the way.

As Donna bravely battled cancer, Pastor Alfred Watts led a special prayer service at Cornerstone for the Nobles, honoring their years of service to the church. After Donna’s death, the Cornerstone community rallied around Paul as he transitioned to assisted living in Carriage Green, bringing him to church and visiting over coffee or a meal.

He spent his final two years at the Sachem Center in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. As his earthly life ebbed away, Paul spoke often of his strong desire to rejoin Donna in the next – even though, he joked, she must be enjoying the peace and quiet.

Paul was predeceased by his brother, Harold, and three nephews, Paul, Kenny and David. He is survived by daughters Janis (Kevin Gonsalves) Rockett of Fairhaven, MA and Dawn (Shawn Pogatchnik) Noble of Dublin, Ireland; granddaughter Alexandra Berntson, and grandsons Matthew Rockett and Harrison Noble.

A Funeral Service will be celebrated on Saturday, August 14, 2021 at 9 a.m. at the Cornerstone Christian Center, 349 Wheelers Farm Rd., Milford, CT. Inurnment will follow at Kings Highway Cemetery, 271 Cherry St., Milford, CT. Visitation will be held on Friday, August 13, 2021, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at CODY-WHITE FUNERAL HOME, 107 Broad St., Milford, CT. In lieu of flowers, please make contributions in memory of Paul Noble to the Dementia Society of America by mail to PO Box 600, Doylestown, PA 18901, or online at www.dementiasociety.org/donate.