Grady and Tonia had the biggest hearts of anyone Carol and I knew. Grady would give the shirt off his back while wearing my combat boots... yes, I was that Platoon Sergeant that Wayne was talking about.  As a soldier Grady was top notch and the Army could have used many many more just Like him. 
Rest in peace my brother, and God Bless you and your family.

Grady
I was honored to know you. You will always be in my heart. 
Always positive,  know matter what you were facing.
Tonia, you got a good one.
Love Flo

Our condolences to the Nolan Family .
Jim Mabry/Connie

One of the most difficult things to write about is the passing of a loved one; Grady was loved and will be missed SO much!

I met Grady at Fort Carson, CO. It was my first posting and may have been Grady's too.  Through our time serving together we were fortunate to share many memories together. The births of our daughters, the joy of their marriage and so many memories!  I wish I could tell them all but there's neither time or enough space. Plus I don't wish to embarrass anyone!

Fate seemed to follow our families as after Colorado we went on to serve in Germany at the same time, then on to Texas. Grady left the service to remain in Texas while I continued serving. But again, fate allowed my family to be stationed in Texas several times and each time we were blessed with being able to see Grady and the family; it was as if no time ever passed between our families and we were able to pick up right where we left off.

Ah, the memories! So many good ones and so few bad ones. But isn't that what families are about? We share the good times and the bad and we're better for having shared them together.

We're going to miss him and will feel his loss every day. He was my brother in arms, my friend and one of the best persons I have ever been blessed to know.  He is family.

Sorrow and sadness, Love and family, we will forever miss my brother.  Love you bro!

We express our deepest condolences to the Nolen Family. May he Rest In Peace ❤️

- The Martinez/Ghandi Family

We all know what wonderful people Grady and his wife Tonia are.  Few times in life do you ever meet people like Grady and Tonia.  When we was stationed together in Germany our platoon sergeant had to take his wife to the emergency room one night because she suffered from asthma real bad so he called Grady and asked Grady if he would come and stay with the kids and of course Grady did happily.  An alert was called the next morning and everything was chaos as usual and the platoon was waiting for Grady to show up and he did, and when we all looked at Grady we all busted out laughing because when Grady brought his uniform with him that night he forgot his boots and had to wear a pair of the platoon sergeants boots.  Well needless to say that the platoon sergeants boots were 3 sizes bigger than Grady's feet and Grady looked like he was wearing Bozo the clown shoes and we laughed about that for weeks afterward.  Grady always brought joy into whatever was happening and we always had a good time no matter what we were doing and a lot of times there would be 10 or 15 of us at Grady and Tonia's place to where they welcomed us with open arms.  I salute the soldier Sergeant Nolen, I shake the hand of my friend Grady, and I know that when I look up he will be looking down at me.  It has been a real pleasure my friend and I am so happy that we met in Orlando a couple of years ago.  God speed Grady Nolen, I'll never forget you.

Grady, I remember us sitting and fishing and exchanging ridiculous jokes and stories. The amount of joy and laughter you filled my life with is incomparable to anything that I can imagine. You were and always will be more or a father than my own dad. I say this with a heavy heart that I'm so sorry I fell short from what you expected of me and I will never live it down or be able to forgive myself. I have so many good memories that you blessed me with. A lot of them you have me the blessing to be included in with your family. I never knew what a real family was until you showed me. You have me a lot of wisdom and advice that has shown me to be a good father. I'm far from the father you were. But I still remember the advice you gave me. I swear to you to always be there for your beautiful wife and daughter. Although I didn't live up to your expectations I know I have it in me to redeem myself. I love you Grady...I meant to speak with you before all of this. Victoria and I had talked about it...but I felt so much guilt and I didn't feel like I was good enough to be around. But now I regret it. I always will. I love you sir. More than you'll ever know. I'm more sad now them I will be when my own father passes. I love you more than I can put into words. I'm sitting here listening to dyer maker, by led Zeppelin which I know you've always loved. Rest in paradise sir. I will always miss you and I swear to you I will always always love you. Goodbye for now. I'll see you again one day. 

I'm so sorry for your loss and my heart goes out to Grady's family! I have awesome memories from our high school days, we had lots of laughter and lots of fun! I often think of those days and treasure his friendship. 

My first memory was in Detroit MI. I so loved when you came to visit because your mom and dad just made everyone laugh.
I was 9 and Grady was 2 and we all lived at Pepper Grove Trailer Park in Glendale CA. I was taken to your trailer to babysit you and your mom went to our trailer and delivered my baby brother Jera.  We lived in Vinemont AL and my Aunt Shirley brought you kids for a visit.  It was the best time climbing trees, fishing,  and eating blackberries right off the bushes.  I saw you last when you were in Palmdale helping  your mom with Auntie Flo. I am so grateful we stayed connected on FB and Messenger.  Your kindness and the way you had of making everything seem better was so special. I will miss you and think of you often. RIP cousin.  We will be together  again someday. 

I was privileged to work with Grady in Dallas.  A great worker with a better attitude, Grady made my job a lot easier.
Not only an employee but I considered him a friend who always had a smile on his face, who loved his family & life.  He will be missed, sorry for your loss Tonia

Shady and the Grady. I will truly miss talking trash with you about them Cowboys.  I'm so sorry you had to go. But only God know's  when our time is up. When he calls us home we have to answer. See you on the other side rest for now. I will keep your Tonia in my Prayers . You loved her to the moon and back. Go Cowboys😇😪❤🙏🙏

I’m very thankful that Grady and Tonia came back to Tennessee last year and we got to spend some time together once more. I knew he wasn’t feeling well, but, we made the best of it and we just seemed to take up where we left off 45 years ago. We did so many crazy things when we were younger, but, we had a lot of fun and I thought of him often. He was a great friend and I know we won’t have to wait so long to get together again. I’ll continue to remember him and think of him often. My heart goes out to Tonia and the rest of the family. 

The boys enjoying the rangers game and some brewskis. Loved and dearly missed.

Grady always thought of a way to do something special for those around him.  He would go to special lengths the hide those special times and gifts.  He once dropped several of us off at a Dallas Cowboys game, saying he was going to park the car and meet us inside.  The seats were right on the field and some type of owners box seats.  When he never came in, we texted him and he said he had a separate seat.  We spent most of the game looking for where he might be sitting.  After the game we found out he didn’t have enough tickets and had given his to one of us and sat in the car waiting through the whole game.

OBITUARIO

Mr. Grady Owen Nolen, Jr.

3 octubre, 1955 – 13 diciembre, 2020

J.E. Foust & Son Funeral Directors

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