Saturday, December 13, 2003
E.J. Nangle Sr., 77, of Berwyn
Edward J. Nangle Sr., 77, of Berwyn, died Nov. 30 at Montgomery County Hospital in Norristown from injuries suffered when his car collided with a pickup truck in West Norriton Township, 15 days after his wife’s death. He was a former member of the Lower Providence Township police force and a retired SEPTA bus driver.
His wife of 52 years, Claire Lauth Nangle, 73, died Nov. 15 of heart failure at Montgomery County Geriatric Center in Royersford, where she had been a resident for six years. He visited her every day.
“They were devoted to each other,” their daughter Trish Luberda said. “The nurses would find them napping together every afternoon.”
Mr. Nangle grew up in Ardmore. At 15, he lied about his age and enlisted in the Navy. During World War II, he served on the USS Franklin and other aircraft carriers in the South Pacific. After his discharge, he was a bus driver for what was then the Schuylkill Valley Bus Co. in Norristown. His future wife was one of his passengers. She was commuting from Norristown to her job at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The couple were married in 1951.
In the 1950s and 1960s, he worked for Montgomery County as a radio dispatcher in the District Attorney’s Office, and as a guard in the Montgomery County Prison. From 1964 to 1971, he was a police officer in Lower Providence Township before going back to work as a bus driver for SEPTA. He retired in 1992. Mrs. Nangle, who grew up in Jim Thorpe, worked as a sales clerk for Sears Roebuck & Co. in Norristown and at other part-time jobs after her children were grown. She loved to play Bingo, Luberda said, and to go bowling and dancing with Mr. Nangle.
Mr. and Mrs. Nangle were longtime residents of Trooper before moving to Berwyn in 1992.
The couple are survived by another daughter, Barbara D’Antonio; sons Edward Jr. and Craig; and 11 grandchildren. Mr. Nangle is also survived by three brothers.
A Funeral Mass for Mrs. Nangle was Nov. 19 at St. Colman Roman Catholic Church, Lancaster Avenue and Argyle Road, Ardmore, Pa. 19003. A Funeral Mass for her husband was said Tuesday at St. Colman’s. They were buried in St. Denis Cemetery in Havertown.
Memorial donations may be made to the church.
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