John Grant Nolan

John was preceded in death by his mother, June Lowe Magee, as well as his sister, Ann Adair Harbaugh, and is survived by his wife of 56 years, Sherry Nolan, by his son Fred and his daughter-in-law Amber; by grandchildren Demitri and Zoe and by his brother-in-law, Richard Harbaugh.

John was born in Erie, Pennsylvania on July 20, 1941. He lived for a short time in Lewisville, Florida, and in New Orleans.

John graduated from Harborcreek High School in 1959 and attended Phoenix Junior College for one year, in time graduating from Arizona State University with a degree in Construction Technology.

As part of the Reserve Officers Training Core (ROTC), John went immediately into service in May 1964, with a commission as second lieutenant in the US Army.

John attended the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, graduating in September 1964, and went onto Fort Benning, Georgia, for Airborne School, where he graduated in October 1964.

Next Stop was Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where John was assigned to the Special Forces, later named The Green Berets by President John F. Kennedy. John was quickly accepted into Airborne Ranger training, which took place in three parts: Fort Bragg, Dahlonega, Georgia, and the Elgin Air Force Base, in Florida.

Upon completion of Ranger training, John—with his friend Walter Mueller—volunteered for service in Vietnam. The Green Berets had no openings for engineer officers in Vietnam, therefore John was relocated to Fort Polk, Louisiana, in preparation for his deployment. He would later be assigned to the 1st Infantry Division in DiAn.

While in Vietnam, John led night ambush patrols and daylight reconnaissance teams. The “recon” teams would blow up tunnels and bridges, and disarm booby traps.

John returned to the states in July 1966 and was relieved from active duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Six weeks later John moved to Phoenix, Arizona where on September 12, 1966 he met Sherry Herendeen. They married on August 18, 1967 and moved to the Pittsburgh area, where John started a new job with the H.H. Robertson Company (HHR). Son Fred was born on July 30, 1968.

Over the next 16 years, the small Nolan family moved several times as John continued to earn promotions within HHR. Then in August 1983, John accepted a new job with Denver-based company Elward, Inc., and relocated one last time to Dallas, Texas. The Nolans made Addison their permanent home.

In 1988 John had the opportunity to buy the Dallas operations from his employer, and he became the majority shareholder in Elward-Nolan, Inc. Over the years he and Sherry started other companies, the most active being NOW Specialties LLC, which continues to operate today.

John and Sherry loved to travel. They visited Mexico often and made several trips to countries in Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Asia, as well as visiting Australia and Canada.

The family will host a wake and visitation on Friday, October 27, 2023 from 5-8pm at Ted Dickey West Funeral Home, 7990 West President George Bush Highway, Dallas, Texas 75252.

The committal service will be held on Monday, October 30, 2023, from 10:15 to 10:30 am at The Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75211.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.teddickeywestfuneral.com for the Nolan family.