Robert L. Nugent, 79, retired teacher and former owner and operator of Sunset Park Campground in Hampstead, NH, passed away on January 10, 2021 as a result of complications with COVID-19.
Born June 27, 1941 in Manchester to Elmer and Dorothy Nugent, he grew up in Groveton where he graduated from Groveton High School in 1959. He remained a “north country” man at heart and treasured the connections with his good friends there always.
Following high school, Bob attended the University of New Hampshire and then served briefly in the U.S. Marine Corps, honorably discharged from the 54th Rifle Company in Newcastle, NH in 1961. He then chose to pursue a career in science education at Plymouth State College, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree.
Bob taught science at Groveton High School for three years before moving south and becoming a Physics teacher at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, where he taught from 1968 to 1997. While there, he spent some time as Science Department Head, was a member of the NH Science Teachers Association, served as a judge for many science fairs across the state, and volunteered for many other activities, such as track and field and cross country events.
With a passion for learning, he continued to attend classes at various colleges and universities throughout his life, including Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he earned his Master of Natural Sciences degree, College of the Holy Cross, Valparaiso University, and Northern Essex Community College.
In 1975, Bob joined his friend and fellow science teacher Brewster Bartlett in a summer job as a park ranger at Sunset Park Campground. This choice ignited a second career path, and he found a way to purchase the campground the following year. While still steadfastly committed to teaching, he dedicated all of his remaining time and effort to making the park the best that it could be. He truly loved talking with all of the campers and helping to provide a place for families to make wonderful memories while learning about and appreciating the outdoors. Hundreds of people became part of his “camp family” and he loved them all, especially all of the little ones who happily greeted him on his countless trips around the park. He helped to promote the camping industry in the state, serving on the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Campground Owners’ Association and volunteering at annual New Hampshire Camping Shows.
He was devoted to promoting energy conservation and educating others about the environment and its preservation. He especially loved working to protect the lake he so enjoyed kayaking and spotting loons on, and was a dedicated member of the Sunset Lake Association as well as an avid supporter of NH Lakes and UNH’s Lakes Lay Monitoring Program.
Living in Hampstead for over forty years, Bob participated in community clubs and committees along the way, perhaps most important to him being his membership on the Recycling and Waste Disposal Committee, as he was an unrelenting supporter of recycling programs at every level. He loved Hampstead and the people in it, and looked forward to interactions with everyone at the summer concerts, the library, and at the post office each day. He would find someone he was familiar with everywhere he went, whether it be a former student or coworker, a camper, or someone he knew from time at the gym, and it always made him happy to find things in common with the new people he met.
Bob gave nearly all of his time to others, but he also enjoyed taking some time to travel and learn about the people and history of other cultures. His journeys included trips to Canada, Mexico, China, India, Romania, Russia, New Zealand, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, and other locations that he always brought back interesting stories of.
He was a devoted and loving father to his daughters and cherished his visits with his granddaughters as well as with generations of Nugent family members at biennial family reunions held around the country.
Bob is survived by daughter Kim Studebaker, her husband Bill, and granddaughter Amelia of Newport, TN; daughter Karen Woody of Talbott, TN; daughter Kendra Neville of Hampstead, NH; granddaughter Megan Greene, her husband Aaron, and their daughter Emrie of Knoxville, TN; granddaughter Ivy Studebaker of Orlando, FL; brother Richard Nugent and wife Christel of Fairfax, VA; sister-in-law Susan Nugent of Gainesville, FL; and many nieces and nephews and close friends, including caring companion Elise Semmler of Wilmington, MA. He was predeceased by his brother Harold Nugent of Gainesville, FL.
If you knew Robert Nugent and wish to celebrate with his family, a celebration of life will be held Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 11am in Ordway Park, 11 Main Street, Hampstead, NH. For those that would like to do something in Bob’s memory, donations might be made to the Sunset Lake Association or another organization supporting the protection of our environment. However, it would honor him greatly for each of us to simply pledge a bit of time to help protect nature or to find some peace in enjoying it in some way.