Enoch S. Lyons – known to the High Country community as Nick – walked on to the spirit world on October 23, 2024 after a short illness.

Born November 25, 1945 in a parsonage in Whittaker Ridge, Virginia, Mr. Lyons, an American Indian, spent his childhood moving across the Appalachians with his father, Rev. James Lyon, an Assembly of God evangelist known regionally as "The Indian Preacher" and family. Through the 1940s, Rev. Lyon held services in Virginia and West Virginia, but also preached on the streets of Boone. The family eventually moved to Akron, OH, where Mr. Lyons attended South High School as a three-sport athlete. He graduated in 1963.

At age 17, he enlisted in the Marines, completing basic training at Parris Island, S.C. and becoming a jet engine mechanic. In 1964, he went to Vietnam, where he served in combat and was promoted up to the rank of E-5 (Sgt). After being honorably discharged, Mr. Lyons moved to North Carolina, earning an associate degree at Gaston College before attending Appalachian State University.

An education major, with a concentration in health and physical education, Mr. Lyons student-taught at Avery County High School. He also met his future wife, Robbie, at ASU. He graduated in May 1973; they married a year later at First Baptist Church in Blowing Rock. Through the 1970s, Lyons taught and coached multiple sports in West Forsyth, N.C., Franklin, W.Va and Honaker, Va. In 1978, he coached Franklin's basketball team to the state final four playoffs, and was a two-time Coach of the Year for the Potomac Valley Conference, the largest athletic conference in West Virginia. At Honaker High School, he also served as Athletic Director.

In 1981, Mr. Lyons and Ms. Sharrett moved back to Boone, to the mountains they loved. They started their own construction and real estate business in 1989, where Mr. Lyons was a real estate developer, broker, and licensed contractor. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Mr. Lyons was active in the High Country Home Builders Association, serving as president several times and named the 2001 Builder of the Year. With other members, he was instrumental in creating their current Boone headquarters. Mr. Lyons also received awards from the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce for the renovation of historic homes on Main Street, which were once vacation cottages connected with the Blowing Rock Hotel.

More than all of these achievements, Mr. Lyons was a loving husband, beloved father, devoted family man and a trusted friend to many. His loved ones and friends will remember him for his thoughtful advice, his quick wit, and his rich singing voice.

Mr. Lyons is survived by: his wife of over 50 years, Robbie J. Sharrett; daughter Conley E. Lyons; sister Annette Lennox of Summerville, S.C.; sister Geri Lyons, of Alexandria, Va.; sister-in-law Geneva Lyons (Jack), of Barberton, Ohio; brother-in-law Stephen

Warth (Diana), of Brecksville, Ohio; 20 nieces and nephews; plus many in-laws, great-nieces, great-nephews, and extended family across seven states.

Mr. Lyons was preceded in death by his father, the Rev. James Moran Lyon (1994), as well as his mother Mary Ethel Ramey Lyon (2003); sisters Esther (2017); Ageline (2021); Romona Jean (1994); Ladine (1999); Rebekah (2021); Diana (2015); brothers Jack (2019) and Jim (1997), who were also Marines; five brothers-in-law (Don C., Don H., Dave, Raymond, Carlos, and Butch); nephews Rick and Michael Hogston (2021) and niece Raven Caudill (1992).

The family thanks Amorem Hospice and Seby Jones Cancer Center in Boone for all their care and support.

A local service with military honors will be held on Saturday, November 16th, at Hampton Funeral Home in Boone, N.C., at 1:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests you consider donating to the Whittaker Ridge Assembly of God at 6702 Bandy Road, Bandy, VA, 24602. As Mr. Lyons's birthplace, and one of the places where his father preached, this mountaintop church was close to his heart. For over 40 years, he attended their yearly homecoming, where he played guitar and sang old-time gospel songs, often joined by members of his family. As children, he and his siblings traveled with their father to revivals as a gospel singing group.

We know they are reunited in the next world, and are singing together again now.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.hamptonfuneralnc.com

Hampton Funeral and Cremation Service is in charge of the arrangements.