Darlene Noegel, loving wife, devoted mother and compassionate nurse, died quietly at her home of issues related to breast cancer on February 12, 2017. Married to her husband of 25 years, Larry Noegel, she is also survived by her sons, Kevin Arnold and Christopher Noegel, step-sons, Larry Jr. and Kenny Noegel, grandchildren, LT and Evelyn Noegel, brother, Donald Ducharme, sister, Dianne Wheeler, and her father, Donald Ducharme. She is preceded in death by her mother, Joann Kingsley. Darlene Ducharme was born on January 27, 1962 in Taunton, Massachusetts and moved as a small child to Lake Worth, Florida where she graduated from Lake Worth High School in 1980. She earned a BS in Nursing from Florida State University and worked as a nurse in Critical Care at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach. After earning a MS in Nursing from Barry University in Miami, Florida she worked as a nurse educator at St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach, Clinical Coordinator and then Director of the Intensive Care Units at Boca Raton Community Hospital, and later as Director of the Intensive Care Unit at Wellington Regional Hospital. Darlene became Chief Nursing Officer at North Cypress Medical Center in Cypress, Texas and most recently she was Director of the Critical Care Unit at St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan, Texas. She was active in several nursing organizations including the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and she recently obtained Certification as Nurse Executive Advanced (NEA-BC). Darlene loved to travel and try new things, having visited states from Maine to Hawaii, countries from Canada to Central America and the Caribbean, and this last summer she traveled to England, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey. Next summer it was to be Alaska, but she never forgot to enjoy the little things like bluebonnets in a cow pasture in central Texas, or a hummingbird protecting his feeder in her own back yard. She was that way with people too, always recognizing the efforts of doctors and nurses, but also the man buffing the hallway floors or the cafeteria lady trying to make change at checkout. All of their efforts were equally important to her. Services for Darlene Noegel will be held at Palms West Funeral Home on Saturday, February 25, 2017 at 11:00 AM followed by internment at Our Lady Queen of Peace Cemetery in Royal Palm Beach, Florida.
