Suffered a heart attack during water shuttle training evolutions at Wake Forest Plaza on Brooks Street, the current location of the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts. He died at Raleigh Community Hospital, a number of hours later. Time of death was recorded as 10:13 p.m. Nuckles was a volunteer member and an employee of Brinks, where he worked as an assistant manager. To honor his memory, the department created the Lewis B. Nuckles Award that year, to recognize a volunteer member each year, regardless of rank. The award is still awarded each year.
