Noal D Preslar Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Noal was born in Bakersfield Ca in 1945. The youngest of his siblings he was born with a spark of amiable vitality and chivalry that set him apart and colored his entire life. One of his earliest memories, around age 3, was of him standing in a large field and his dad passing him a sack to help pick the cotton. He ended his life having attained advanced education and having bettered the lives of many people as a teacher, counselor, friend, father, grandfather, husband and volunteer. His struggling family moved to Grants Pass before he began first grade. Noal grew up there and graduated from Grants Pass high school in 1963. Noal went directly from Grants Pass High to SOU and got a bachelor’s degree in Education (1968). While there he wrestled for the SOU team. At the graduation job fair, he was offered a position teaching high school history at West Anchorage High. He accepted and drove up the Al-Can highway. His daughter Shaney was born in Providence Hospital in Anchorage the next year. After five years of teaching, he returned to Oregon to get a master’s degree in counseling. He then returned to Alaska and took a position at Service-Hanschew Middle School as a counselor. On evenings and weekends, he coached wrestling and soccer. He spent 25 fulfilling years, making lifelong friends, and enjoyed fishing for salmon and halibut, hunting, skiing at Alyeska, and boating with friends on Resurrection Bay. He built a cabin in Homer. Noal returned to the lower 48, for more education and spent a year in doctoral studies at U of O. He retired from State of Alaska in July, 1993. From there, he moved back to Oregon working for the school system outside Eugene. In 1995 he moved to Brookings where he finished his career as a counselor at Azalea middle school. In April of 1997, while visiting good friends in Ashland, he met Susan via a blind date (thank you Liz Pischel and Randy Rogney). In 1998 he retired from teaching in Brookings and moved to Ashland to be closer to her. They took two trips to Italy and honeymooned in Paris. In 2002 they bought a home in Omokoroa, New Zealand, and visited there over a dozen times. In 2010 they took up sailing officially with ASA classes, and, with their close friends, bare-boat chartered in the British Virgin Islands, San Juan Islands, Canadian wilderness areas of Desolation Sound and also Princes Louisa Inlet, and twice in French Polynesia, cruising Raitea, Taha’a, Huahine and Bora Bora.. In 2013 they went on a month-long self-organized trip to India. These were marvelous adventures. In retirement Noal was a CASA volunteer, a court appointed advocate for children who had experienced abuse. This was an endeavor that wrenched his heart and at the same time was the perfect position for his counseling experience and his character. He also was a CERT volunteer as well as a commissioner on the Ashland Traffic and Safety Commission. Noal is a model of making the most of oneself with the least external resources. No matter what life offered him Noal chose and re-chose light and love, living as a champion and advocate for those in greater need. Noal had skill and finesse with tennis and ping pong that always seemed unexpected. Perhaps the surprise was because it came from a man that so many people said was the kindest person they had ever experienced -- something hard to reconcile with a perfectly placed tennis ball landing at your feet and spinning out to an impossible angle. His timing was spot on and so quick that you were taken aback for a few vital seconds, this was true whether it was a joke that took you by surprise or a ball. He delighted in fun competition. He delighted in fun. With Susan, he created an extraordinary relationship that transcends the everyday notions of marriage, growing into a love story that continues to move and inspire others. Noal knew how to cherish. Susan knows how to entice. Together they cracked open worlds of love and excitement, which people long for universally yet experience only rarely. Noal is survived by his wife Susan Preslar, his daughter Shaney Snodgrass (Tom) and his two grandchildren Kylie Woodrum (Austin) and Jordan Snodgrass (Ginny). He also is survived by his two stepchildren Noah Wild (Heather) and Spencer Einhorn (Allesha), and two step grandchildren Ellie and Naomi Wild. And he is survived by his brother Gary Preslar (Phyllis). He leaves behind a terrific group of friends. You know who you are. Donations can be made to Alzheimer Society of Oregon: alz.or or CASA: jacksoncountycasa.org/donate/ Memorial celebration will be held in Lithia Park on the evening of June 28th.

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Noal D Preslar

July 25, 1945 - May 19, 2022