It is with great sadness that we report the passing of retired long-time Northwood faculty member Mike Nugent (July 27, 1945 — March 30, 2020). Don Mellor ’71 has prepared the following letter of tribute.
Dear Friends,
If you attended Northwood School between the years 1966 and 2007, reach back to your wallet and take out five dollars. Look at it and recall just how much those five bills would mean to you every Thursday after lunch when Mr. Nugent would hand over your allowance.
If you were a parent during those years and it was Mr. Nugent’s voice on the phone…that was a different story.
We lost long-time Business Manager Mike Nugent this week, not to the virus, but to a steady deterioration of health. I talked to Mike’s wife Nancy (former Northwood School librarian), and as you’d expect, she’s resilient and philosophical, especially in these times that prevent us all from coming together to celebrate his life. We hope that things now beyond our control will let us do just that sometime soon.
Mike and Nancy are such a huge part of Northwood’s legacy that I wanted to write something up, but then I remembered this Reflections piece and realized that what I would have tried to do had already been done.
To Mike – Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for your humor and kindness. Thanks for letting me off the hook when I’d add up an expense wrong or lose my receipts. You were the essence of humanity and what makes Northwood what it is today.
And to Nancy - It's hard to imagine not seeing you in person. Know that you have our sympathies and our love.
Don Mellor ’71