Nora Rooche Field

Noorai, Ph.D.

Nora Rooche Field, Ph.D., 84, wife of Dr. Farid Shahid Noorai, died Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at the Medical University of South Carolina Hospital in Charleston.

Dr. Field was born March 18, 1942, in Seneca, Oconee County; she was the only child of Susie Etta Hunter of West Union and John Oliver Field, Jr., of Seneca. She graduated from Seneca High School in 1960 as valedictorian, as well as performing the lead in the senior class play, Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. She attended Agnes Scott College transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she graduated in 1964. She was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and the Beta Upsilon Chapter of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University in 1979.

On June 7, 1965, Dr. Field married Dr. Farid S. Noorai at University Lutheran Church in Clemson, Pickens County; they primarily resided on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and their daughters were born in Bronxville, Westchester County, New York.

Dr. Field worked at The Seneca Journal, the North Carolina Hospital Association, and the Renaissance Society at Casa Italiana at Columbia University. She volunteered for many years as a Girl Scout Leader, leading multiple camping trips in New York.

As a lifelong Lutheran, Dr. Field was a member of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Walhalla, and a former member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City.

Following in the footsteps of her paternal grandmother, Nora Nimmons Field, Dr. Field was a member of several hereditary societies. She joined the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution as a junior member, and maintained her membership for more than 61 years. She served as Southeast Division National Vice Chair of the DAR Scholarship Committee, and was an Honorary Regent of the Lilly McIlhaney Bowen Chapter in Seneca. She was also a longtime Associate Member of the Manhattan Chapter.

Dr. Field was a member of the National Society Colonial Dames of the XVII Century for over 50 years, serving the Colonel John Robins Chapter in multiple capacities. At the time of her passing, she was serving a second term as the South Carolina State Librarian of the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists.

Dr. Field was a life member of The Association of Descendants of the Knights of the Garter, The Colonial Order of the Crown, and The National Society Magna Charta Dames. She was also a member of the Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars, the National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, the National Society United States Daughters of 1812, and the National Society Southern Dames of America.

Dr. Field is survived by her husband, Dr. F. S. Noorai; her daughters, Dr. Rooksana “Rooksie” Elizabeth Noorai (Jason), and Mariam “Mari” Rosalie Noorai; and her beloved granddog, Akhie the Great Dane.

Traveling was a lifelong passion of Dr. Field, from her first trip across the country while in the fifth grade, to recent travels to AKC Dog Shows with Akhie.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (designated to the President General’s Project), or to the Imagine Campaign at St John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

A Celebration of Life will be held at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Walhalla at a future date.