Nocha Jean Young Whitten

 Nocha Jean Young Whitten passed away on May 31, 2026, at age 78, at her home in Melbourne, Florida. She was born on July 29, 1947, in Holden, West Virginia, to Howard Lowe Young and Fannie Pauline Duncan.

 Nocha was preceded in death by her loving husband, Michael Edward Whitten. She is survived by her children, Jennifer Ann Whitten, Jeffery Alan Whitten, Todd Michael Whitten, and Shannon Nicole Whitten; and by her five grandchildren, Hannah, Michael, Amelia, Madelyn, and Teagan.
A service to honor Nocha’s life will be held at Beckman-Williamson Funeral Home on July 6, 2026, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. All who would like to honor her memory are welcome.

 Nocha grew up in Logan, West Virginia, where an early love of both science and the arts took root. After high school, she worked as a medical laboratory technician. She married in July 1971 and soon after moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, where she had her four children. In the early 1980s, she and her family settled in Melbourne, Florida, which she called home for more than forty years.

 Nocha was special for so many reasons. She had a gift for appreciating life’s simple beauty—the smell after a good rainstorm, flowers, birds at her window, dolphins, sunsets, and the ocean. She loved fishing with her father and spending weekends talking on the phone with her mother and sister. She was a world traveler who loved art and science, but most of all, she loved her family unconditionally. Her love is so strong it can never be forgotten