Most people knew him as the mayor of McSherrystown. To some, he was just plain "Moe."

To his family, he was a dedicated husband, father and grandfather.

But for everyone who came into contact with Cyril T. Noel, he was a trustworthy, generous and dependable man who gave to his family and community without expecting anything in return.

Noel died Saturday at York Hospital at the age of 82.

"We really are going to miss him because he was our rock," said his wife, Frances Noel.

Cyril lived in McSherrystown his whole life and, as a young boy, acquired the "Moe" moniker.

"Everyone has a nickname in McSherrystown," said his son, David Noel. "That's just how they did it."

Frances said Cyril never liked his given name. He even had an uncle who would call him "cereal" when he was young. But Cyril liked "Moe" and always went by it.

Somehow, though, the nickname got passed on to Cyril's four sons.

"When the phone rang and they asked for Moe, we didn't know who to get," said Tom Noel, Cyril's son, said with a laugh Tuesday as he and other family members recalled his father.

But whether he was called Cyril or Moe or even CT, he always felt it was his duty to give back to the community, said David Noel.

"Dad always felt he was pretty successful in life and he wanted to give that back," he said. "He believed, if you give, you get back somewhere along the line."

Cyril spent 15 years - from 1990 to 2005 - as mayor of McSherrystown. From 1989 to 1990, he was a borough council member. In all his years as mayor, Cyril never accepted a paycheck.

"He just did his job," said Councilman Steve Weaver. "He went about it quietly. He was a good mayor and an understanding person."

McSherrystown Mayor Herb Riede said it was Cyril who helped him transition into the position.

"I asked him when his time came up if he was going to run for mayor again," Riede said. "He said he didn't feel up to it, but every time he didn't run the residents kept writing him in. He just wanted to move on. But I asked him what to do a lot of the times and he always talked about things with me."

Cyril had said that he enjoyed every meeting and most of the other borough activities, but his age was catching up with him.

"I get a little forgetful," he said in 2005. "I felt it was becoming more difficult to do a good job."

Besides his position as mayor, he worked for 47 years at Hanover Foods Corp. and served on the board of directors at the company. He was also involved with numerous civic organizations such as the Lions Club.

But he never let his obligations to the community interfere with his family. And it showed when his family talked about the good memories.

"With him there was a right way and a wrong way to do things," said Michael Noel. "If you were doing it wrong, he let you know. He was a taskmaster. You either do it right or don't do it at all."

But, Michael added, it was that philosophy - which his father used not only in his personal life but also in his profession - that probably made him so successful.

"People always trusted him and knew they could depend on him. He just thought it was his job to give back," David said. "He always made something positive out of the negative and always saw the light at the end of the tunnel," David said.

Contact Ashley Adams at aadams@eveningsun.com.