The Daily O’Collegian

He knew no stranger and he always wore a smile, his colleagues said.

“He loved OSU; this was his heaven,” said Stephanie Fisbeck, a student assistant in the Oklahoma State University men’s basketball office.

Noyes, 27-year-old director of basketball operations, died in the plane crash that claimed the lives of 10 OSU Cowboys Saturday.

Christy Bunney, staff assistant for athletics, said Noyes dedicated his life to Cowboy basketball.

“We will always think of him when we go into Gallagher-Iba Arena because he was Cowboy basketball,” Bunney said.

Student Manager Steve Soza said Noyes was responsible for practically everything related to the men’s basketball program.

“Coach (Eddie Sutton) always asked, ‘Where’s my man, Pat? Where’s my right-hand man, Pat?’ Coach admired him so much,” Soza said.

With numerous coaching changes and the turnover of office staff in the past few years, the office never would have functioned without Noyes, Soza said.

“Today, I asked Mary Lee (Draper, staff assistant) for a phone number,” he said. “Mary Lee turned around and said, ‘I never get these questions. These questions always go to Pat.’”

And Noyes knew his stuff. Soza said after having worked as a student manager of the team for five years, Noyes knew what Sutton would want in different situations and would tell his staff exactly what to do, even if the office staff had different ideas.

“He could tell you the sky was green, and you’d believe it,” Soza said.

Still, he had a magnetism about him.

Fisbeck said, “Everybody loved him and wanted to know him more.”

She had only worked in the office since September, but said she considered Noyes a good friend.

“We’ve all been talking about how we hate coming in the morning because he’s not here,” Fisbeck said.

She said he would be the last person to leave the office at night — staying until midnight if that’s what it took to get the job finished — and the first one at work in the morning. The first thing staff members would see in the morning was Noyes’ smile, Fisbeck said.

“I will remember him as my standard,” she said. “He was the reason I got to work on time in the mornings and the reason I’m still coming to work.”

Chris Choat, Noyes’ roommate during the pair’s undergraduate years at OSU, said Noyes made time for his friends.

“He’s one of the best people I knew anywhere, and I bet anyone who knew him would say the same thing on his behalf,” Choat said.

Noyes attended at least six of the Perry High School football games that Choat coached last fall. As roommates, the pair made a point of eating together and talking about their days several times a week, Choat said.

“He never looked at a person and said, ‘This person is lower than me,’ ” Choat said. “He cared for everybody.”

Noyes’ high school basketball coach, Skip Ashworth of Mount St. Mary High School in Oklahoma City, said he would remember Noyes as sincere, intense, loyal and fun.

“He was always wanting to play college basketball for sure,” Ashworth said. “His size was a limiting factor, but he didn’t let that deter him.”

Ashworth said Noyes probably realized he wouldn’t become a professional basketball player, but still didn’t give up his dreams.

“He found a way to be connected with what he loved to do in a way he could be a valuable asset, realizing he could bring talents and skills to that area,” he said.

After high school, Noyes spent two years dabbling in journalism and broadcasting and basketball at McPherson College in Kansas, Ashworth said.

His ultimate goal was to be a Division I basketball coach, Choat said.

Soza said Noyes loved his job, OSU, basketball and Sutton.

“All the players and coaches had the utmost respect for him,” Soza said.

“He was the guy you always wanted around.”

Noyes is survived by his parents, Dan and Mary Noyes; brother, Dan; and sister, Molly.

Two services, both open to the public, will meet Thursday. The funeral at St. John’s University Parish and Catholic Student Center, 201 N. Knoblock, will be at 9 a.m., and a service at the Gallagher-Iba Arena auxiliary gym will immediately follow.