Dedicated local veteran dies at 82

Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Louis Nockold spent 33 years on active duty.

He spent the rest of his life teaching others to appreciate veterans

who served their country.

Nockold, a resident of Newport Coast and a Pearl Harbor veteran,

died June 4 of complications of cancer. He was 82.

Jack Hammett, another Pearl Harbor veteran and the mayor of Costa

Mesa in the early 1970s, often went with Nockold to deliver speeches.

Armed with plenty of visual aids, Nockold traveled to classrooms

across Southern California and took students back to Dec. 7, 1941.

On that day, he was aboard the light cruiser Honolulu in Pearl

Harbor. As he ironed his uniform, he heard siren bells, indicating an

imminent attack. He was a gunner aboard the ship and had to use an ax

to get a gun out of storage, said Sally Nockold, Louis Nockold’s wife

of 12 years.

“They were very lucky,” Sally Nockold said. “He said many times,

they didn’t have time to think about the significance of the moment.

They did what they had to do.”

His ship took a torpedo to the bow during Pearl Harbor, but

Nockold’s crew suffered no casualties, his wife said.

“He had a nice way of presenting,” Hammett said. “He wasn’t

ostentatious in any way. It was a dog-and-pony show. He’d start with

action aboard Honolulu. I’d pick it up from the hospital, where I was

stationed.”

He was born in Ft. Collins, Colo., and enlisted in the Navy on

Jan. 28, 1941. Louis Nockold reported aboard the Honolulu that April.

Nockold attended Submarine Officer’s School and served on six

diesel submarines as executive officer. He was commanding officer of

the submarine Pomodon and the submarine Sea Devil.

He attended the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., and later

served a stint as a submarine advisor in a division of NATO’s

military staff in Belgium.

For his three decades of service, Nockold was awarded the

Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, Korean

and Vietnam service medals and five battle stars.

After retiring from the Navy in 1972, Nockold started a Naval

Junior ROTC program at Centennial High School in Compton.

For 14 years, he was a math and computer sciences teacher. In his

later years, he was a substitute teacher at Corona del Mar and

Newport Harbor high schools.

Nockold was involved in numerous community organizations. He was

charter president of the Newport Beach Hawaiian Lions Club and

secretary of the Newport Beach Sister City Assn.

Many of his activities revolved around military appreciation. He

was an active member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assn., Chapter 14,

serving as one-time president, state vice chairman and host to the

state convention. Much of his time also went to the Orange County

Freedom Committee.

“He was so patriotic and involved in everything,” said Sally

Nockold, who was introduced to her husband by Hammett. “He

orchestrated reunions, went to conventions and did school

presentations up until the time he was hospitalized.”

After his death, Sally Nockold said nurses at Hoag Memorial

Hospital Presbyterian sent the family a series of sympathy cards. He

was in and out of the hospital for more than a year.

“Not many people endear themselves to nursing staffs,” Sally

Nockold said. “He was the warmest person you’d ever meet.”

Louis Nockold is survived by Sally Nockold; four sisters; eight

children; 12 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Funeral

services are planned for 10 a.m. Monday at St. John Vianney Chapel in

Newport Beach.

Donations may be sent to the Newport Beach Hawaiian Lions Club,

Louis W. Nockold Scholarship Fund, at 125 Lessay, Newport Coast, CA

92657.