Here is the solution that worked for me. Thanks to everyone to helped figure this out. 
Stop, uninstall and remove the systemd file
sudo /usr/bin/node-red-stop
sudo npm remove -g node-red node-red-admin
sudo rm /lib/systemd/system/nodered.service
Remove the panel from the dashboard.config
Delete the three lines prefixed with node-red
nano /var/lib/openhab2/config/org/openhab/dashboard.config
Restart OpenHAB
sudo /bin/systemctl stop openhab2.service
sudo openhab-cli clean-cache (not sure if this is necessary)
sudo /bin/systemctl stop openhab2.service
NOTE: My understanding is editing $OPENHAB_CONF/services/dashboard.cfg has absolutely no effect on the dashboard, except the FIRST time you boot. Just like $OPENHAB_CONF/services/addons.cfg which actually has a comment at the top stating this.