“He basically told me, ‘Don’t necessarily limit the mind to one particular place,’ because there are so many places to see out there and so many places to practice,” said Julien Landry, a fourth year law student who worked with Noonan at MSU. “For him, life experiences were meant to be explored in different areas.”

Noonan, a volunteer faculty member in the MSU College of Law Rental Housing Clinic, died Friday after a heart attack following a shoulder replacement surgery, close friend Lenny Provencher said. He was 67.

“He just had a real lust for life,” Provencher said. “He really lived life and showed people that nothing is too big of a challenge at least to try and how to really enjoy life.”

Noonan graduated from Wayne State University’s College of Law and practiced in Michigan before leaving for Alaska, Provencher said. He practiced aviation law in Alaska and returned to Michigan about 15 years later.

A passionate cyclist, Noonan took a 99 day, 6,000-mile bike ride from Alaska to Florida in 1996, Provencher said. Noonan kept a blog throughout his travels.

He began volunteering at MSU in August 2009.

“Oh, he had just such high regard for MSU and he said the ones in the law school that he interacted with were truly brilliant,” Provencher said. “They just amazed him.”

Students saw Noonan as a mentor who offered a wealth of firsthand experience, said Michele Halloran, director of Clinical Programs and a clinical professor in the College of Law.

“He absolutely had an impact on students,” Halloran said. “The students learned so much from him and that’s what I’m hearing them express today. They’re so shocked that he won’t be there to assist them.”

Noonan is remembered for his sense of humor and positive attitude, Landry said. He cracked jokes when students were under high stress and sat down with them to talk about law and life.

“To a lot of us, he was more than just a co-worker,” Landry said. “He was actually a friend to many of the students.”