Dr. John Ray Nolen's Obituary
John Ray Nolen. Born November 27, 1973.
I was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and grew up in North Little Rock (on the right side of the river). I attended St. Patrick’s Elementary then Catholic High. In 9th grade, I started dating the love of my life, my better half on New Year’s Eve,1988. What a life we have experienced together!
I attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. I was the same age as Scotty Thurman and Corliss Williamson, so basketball during my time was incredible. I served as Arkansas Booster Club President the year we won the National Championship.
I then went on to UAMS in Little Rock for medical school. I married Robyn Morrison on July 12, 1997, after she finished her Master’s in Social Work. One of us had to be able to work. During my 4th year of medical school, my firstborn daughter Sophie was born. I worked my rotations so that when Robyn went back to work, I got to spend a couple months taking care of her. We had fun.
I attended my Family Medicine Residency at UAMS AHEC in Fort Smith from 07/2000 to 06/2003. While there, we had my second child, Charleston “Charlie”. While in residency, I was able to moonlight in various ER’s around the area, including Paris, Booneville, Clarksville and Waldron. That led to some incredible learning opportunities.
In the summer of 2003 after residency, we moved to Fayetteville to raise our family. We live in the same home we moved into, still today. I started practice in August 2003 in Springdale, first with Northwest Family Care and later MANA Family Medicine.I have practiced there ever since. Besides my family and friends, my greatest joy was my work and the people that I worked with. My middle daughter Meg Morrison was born in 08/2004. We had 3 children but felt we were called to have another. We had three 18 week miscarriages so we decided we were meant to adopt. Through the Catholic Adoption Services in Little Rock, we got the call that twin preemie boys were born and we were honored enough to get to adopt them. They were born on the last miscarriage’s due date in December 2006. 2 of the 3 miscarriages we knew were boys. We felt this God moment and were thankful. Welcome Abe and James to the family. Our family of 5 children is complete and we could not have imagined it any other way.
I have loved watching my children grow up. That is the crowning jewel of my life. Robyn and I have poured ourselves into them. I have loved visiting the beaches in Destin and Fort Walton on a yearly basis with our family. Two of my favorite trips were road trips with our friends the Litzingers. There is nothing like piling a huge family in a van and driving cross country. The first big trip was to the Grand Canyon, but we made it all the way to Las Vegas. The second road trip was to Yellowstone. These were very memorable and I hope my children always have fond memories of these.
Sophie is a typical firstborn, leader, driven, maybe a little bossy. Charlie has an incredible heart, funny, carefree, happy, and my partner for any Razorback event. Meg is organized, driven, a dancer, smart, and can do anything she sets her mind to. Abe is my hands-on, hunter, fisher, fixer. James is also my lover of football, tough on the outside, but with a great heart. I will miss you all more than I can express but will be with you every step of your lives.
I am survived by the best wife and person one could ever hope to spend their life with, Robyn Morrison Nolen, my wonderful children Sophie, Charlie, Meg, Abe, and James, who I can never express how much I truly love you, my parents Joan and John Nolen of North Little Rock (thanks for raising me well), my older brother Chris Nolen (wife Shana, nephews Grant, Jack, Brock) of Little Rock, my older sister Shawnee Bruffett (husband Wayne, nieces Phoebe, Olivia “Via”, nephews Nolen, Rett) of Little Rock. My siblings taught me to love and be fiercely loyal to family. Also survived by my great in-laws Pat and Ann Morrison of Fayetteville, brother-in-law Bo Morrison, sister-in-law Molly (spouse Stephanie, niece Eliot, nephew Bo). I have been loved by many aunts, uncles, and cousins too. I was preceded in death by my beloved grandparents, Agnes and John Paquette.
May you all love your family as fiercely as I have. That is nothing you will ever regret. If you are reading this, metastatic kidney cancer has a temporary victory over me. A funeral mass will be held at our longtime church St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, April 20th at 2:00 PM by Father Jason Sharbaugh, Father Tyler, and Father Ravi under the direction of Nelson Berna Funeral Home. Please in lieu of flowers, donate to Northwest Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where I served on the Board. Let your actions speak louder than your words. Love to you all, family, friends, patients.
The family would like to thank Dr. Greg Oakhill, Dr. Chris McClinton, and countless other physician friends who gifted us three more years with our favorite person. Thank you to Willard Walker Hospice Home and Dr. Mark Thomas for providing in John’s words, “the perfect place to go.”
To sign the online guest book please visit www.bernafuneralhomes.com. To watch the service, please visit https://www.facebook.com/saintjosephfayetteville/live.
What’s your fondest memory of John?
What’s a lesson you learned from John?
Share a story where John's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with John you’ll never forget.
How did John make you smile?
