Paul Fordham Nugent Jr. of Xenia, Ohio, passed away April 6, 2024, at the age of 95 after a brief illness.

Paul was born in 1928 in East Hampton, N.Y., to Paul Fordham Nugent and Margaret White Nugent. In addition to his parents, he was pre-deceased by his wife Caroline Gibson Nugent, to whom he was married for 53 years until her death in 2005.

He is survived by his children Paul F Nugent III and Beth Nugent; his daughter-in-law Christine Imbus; his sister Margaret (Peg) Conklin; and Dorothy Abramsohn, his former high school sweetheart who brought great joy and love into his life when they reconnected several years after both had lost their spouses.

Paul was a smart, generous, witty man, who was always ready to laugh. He did much good in his life, always ready to help out anyone he encountered who needed a boost; he considered it his responsibility to help those in need, and he made a lifelong practice of donating to many charities focused on helping animals, veterans, and the environment. He was a lover of classical music, bad jokes, Jeopardy, and the quiet peace of his rural Ohio house, where he lived happily until his death. His great pleasure in recent years was relaxing and gazing out at the trees and wildlife in his back yard. He appreciated a good party, and deeply valued time spent with family and loved ones in Ohio, upstate New York, Florida, Maryland, and Long Island.

Paul grew up in East Hampton, N.Y. He attended Cornell University, where he was a member of the band, the choir, and the staff of the Cornell humor magazine The Cornel Widow. He graduated in 1950, then attended Cornell Medical College. He finished his medical internship in 1954, and in 1955 he entered the United States Air Force as a First Lieutenant in the Medical Corps under the provision of the Doctor Draft Law.

As part of his military service, Paul served all over the world, living with his family in England, Boston, San Antonio, Dayton, and Washington DC. He served in Vietnam as a hospital commander in Saigon. After 22 years of service he retired from active duty in 1977 with the rank of Colonel and the status of Chief Flight Surgeon.

Paul found great satisfaction in his military medical career, and particularly enjoyed his work with the NASA Manned Space Flight Program. In his capacity as Flight Surgeon, he acted as medical monitor for several Gemini space flights, which took him to many cities around the world, including Recife, Brazil; Okinawa, Japan; and the Canary Islands. After his retirement, Paul took an interest in genealogy and traced his own ancestry on his mother's side back to the early settlers in Southhampton, N.Y. in the 1600s.

Paul had many good friends throughout his life and made it a priority to stay in touch with them, from his oldest childhood friend to those he met later in life. He loved his friends, his family, and the many pets his wife and children brought home. And he was greatly loved by his large extended family, which included his beloved sister-and-brother in-law Judy and Joe Conklin, as well as cousins, nieces, nephews, step-grandchildren, and step-great-grandchildren.

We all admired Paul for his intelligence and his unwavering sense of duty, and we all loved him for his kindness, his humor, and his wonderful good spirit. He will be greatly missed.

He will be interred next to his wife Caroline at Union Cemetery, Hudson Falls, NY.

Donations to the Humane Society of Greene County, PO Box 51, Xenia OH 45385.