Obituary of Dagmar Joyce Noll
EASTFORD—Dagmar Joyce (Christensen) Noll, age 91, died in Windham Hospital on January 14, 2020, having received excellent hospice care there after suffering a major stroke on January 10, 2020. She was born on December 8, 1928 in Waukegan, IL to Herman and Nellie (Winslow) Christensen.
Dagmar graduated from Waukegan Township High School. She loved swimming in Lake Michigan, was an excellent swimmer when she was young, and was proud to have earned Red Cross lifesaving certification. She was thrilled to swim in Crystal Pond in 2019 at age 90.
Dagmar attended the University of Illinois where she met her future husband, Clifford R. Noll, Jr. to whom she would be married for 59 years, until Clifford’s death in 2008. They moved to Wisconsin, Michigan, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Massachusetts before moving to Eastford, Connecticut in 1965 to live with their three children on property Clifford bought after World War II. Dagmar obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from Goucher College in 1961 and had a Fellowship as a Graduate Student in Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University for the year prior to their move to Massachusetts. Years later, she completed her Master’s Degree in Mathematics at the University of Connecticut. She was highly skillful at teaching mathematics, including to students who had difficulty with mathematics in the past. She taught mathematics at Woodstock Academy, Eastern Connecticut State College, and Greater Hartford Community College. Dagmar was particularly pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to the education of students in the Nursing program at Greater Hartford Community College.
Dagmar was also an avid genealogist. She spent considerable time over the course of years discovering her own and her husband’s genealogy, and she did genealogy for others on occasion. Historical preservation was important to her, and she enjoyed being the Historian for the Town of Eastford for many years. Given the importance of democratic process to her, she was also pleased to have served as a Registrar of Voters for the Town of Eastford for years.
Dagmar also had artistic ability and particularly enjoyed drawing. The year the Noll family lived in Providence, RI, she took a drawing class at Rhode Island School of Design.
Dagmar loved to travel to Denmark and to the British Isles because of her interest in her and Clifford’s ancestry, the cultures and history of those cultures. She took several trips with Clifford and, after his death, with other family members. She was pleased to make a last trip to Denmark in 2018 at age 89.
Dagmar had a “free spirit” quality that allowed her to be spontaneous. She was a very loving and giving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She could readily be self-sacrificing when the situation called for it. She had tremendous love for her grandchildren and provided childcare to them when possible. She also had deep love for her parents and sisters, her sisters’ children and their children, and numerous members of her extended family. She maintained strong friendships from her childhood and young adulthood and made new friends of decades duration after she moved to Eastford. She enjoyed playing cards, walking on the road at her house, swimming at Crystal Pond, and eating at Corriander Cafe with family members and friends. She loved the rural environment Eastford provided.
Dagmar is predeceased by her sisters June (Christensen) Holland, Janice Christensen, and Jane (Christensen) Renarb. She is survived by her children, Rebecca Noll and Rebecca and William Busby’s daughter, Kamaria Busby; Bradford Noll (Lynne) and their children, Jessica (Noll) Stebbins (Geoff) and Karl Noll; and Edmund Noll (Sophanna) and Edmund and Susan (St. King) Klare’s daughter, Dagmar S. Noll. She is also survived by her two great grandchildren, Jessica and Geoff Stebbin’s two children, Charlie and Dexter.
Anyone who wishes to make a donation in memory of Dagmar is encouraged to give to Eastford Independent Fire Co. (P.O. Box 333, Eastford, CT 06242), Ashford Fire Department (46 Westford Road, Ashford, CT 06278), or Restoration for Unitarian Universalist Meeting House in Brooklyn, c/o Dennis Landis, P.O. Box 38, Brooklyn, CT 06234.
A memorial service will be planned in the spring or summer. If you wish to share a memory of Dagmar, please do so at www smithandwalkerfh.com.