John Nugent
John “Nuge” Nugent, age 77 of Webster, passed away on Thursday, January 21, 2016 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, April 30, 2016 at 11AM at Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation in Shakopee with a visitation beginning at 9:30AM. Celebrant Jean Breeggemann will preside. Urn bearers are John’s brothers, Virgil, Tom, Denny, Terry, and Greg; brother-in-law, Chuck Lyons; and friends; Roger Fischer, Marv Olson, John McCarthy and Gary Lyons.
On August 3, 1938 Alfred and Violet (Karjala) Nugent welcomed their son, John Ronald Nugent, into the world. John was born and raised in Minneapolis along with his eight siblings. He was the third of nine children. John was an active individual and enjoyed gymnastics during high school. He excelled at rings and the pommel horse. Following his high school graduation in 1956, he no longer participated in gymnastics because he rapidly grew eight inches becoming too tall at 6 foot 4. After high school, John attended night classes and earned a bachelor’s degree from Metropolitan State University.
John worked at North Western National Bank for 21 years. He was involved with tabulating, data processing, and data security. On Thanksgiving, 1982, John received a call informing him that the bank had been destroyed in a fire. He was commended for his hard work in assisting with data recovery following the fire. John began to travel for speaking engagements about the Thanksgiving fire and its aftermath.
On one such trip, John, his brother Terry, Terry’s wife Sandy, their two girls Nikki and Nerissa, and Phyllis went to Washington DC via motorhome. Terry dropped John and Phyllis off at a hotel while he headed for a RV park for the night. The next morning as John was getting ready for his speech, John asked Phyllis where his suit and tie were—they were in the motorhome. This was before cell phones, so John, unable to contact Terry for his suit, gave his speech in jeans to a group of bankers. After working for Northwestern National Bank, John spent 10 years with Analysts International Corporation helping with staffing and job placement.
It was in the tabulations department at the bank that John worked with Phyllis Lyons. He was very shy and would hardly talk with anyone, but eventually gained the courage to ask Phyllis on a date. They courted for eight months before marrying in Minneapolis on April 12, 1958. On February 6, 1959 they celebrated the birth of their son, John Jr. Together the family spent time at their cabin in Danbury, Wisconsin.
John led an active lifestyle with his friends and family. John could be found taking trips on his motorcycle. He once ventured to Sturgis, going against his doctor’s orders after a hemorrhoids operation. He bought a cushion to sit on, but went without using it. Rather his friend Marv used it instead. You could never tell John that he couldn’t do something. He’d always figure out a way to do it anyway.
John loved to travel, often going to Las Vegas to the consumer electronics and money shows. He would stay with Terry and Sandy (who surely loved the many bags of freebies he would pick up). Along with Sandy, he would also spend time gaming at the casinos where not much money was made, but lots of fun was had. He also loved going out with his birthday group to various dog tracks, horse tracks, and casinos. In the winter John would be out with his snowmobiling club, the Snowdusters.
After working as a caddy at the Theodore Wirth Golf Course, John discovered his love for golf. Eventually, his son began to golf with him. John was passionate in his pursuits. He was even proud of an award for a messiest office contest (he came in second). John was a fun loving, determined, patient man who was always in good spirits. Whenever he was asked how he was doing, John would always reply, “Better than most.”
John will be deeply missed by his wife, Phyllis; son, John Jr.; siblings, Virgil (Cathy) Nugent, Tom (Suellen) Nugent, Denny (Carol) Nugent, Cheryl Henney, Terry (Sandy) Nugent, Greg (Linda) Nugent; sister-in-law, Jo Hentges; brother-in-law, Chuck (Carol) Lyons; many nieces and nephews. John is preceded in death by his parents, Alfred and Violet, and sisters, Judy and Yvonne.
