Obituary for Richard Thomas Nicolls
Richard Thomas Nicolls, M.D.
10/11/1927 – 9/1/2022
On September 1, 2022, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather passed away just eleven days before his 65th wedding anniversary and a little over five weeks before his 95th birthday. He leaves a wife and four daughters who will miss him forever.
Nick, as he was known to his friends, came late to his medical education after sailing four years as a merchant marine and four years in the Air Force during the Korean War.
His pre-med education was at the University of California, Riverside, followed by med school at what is now the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. After graduation he chose a rotating internship at San Bernardino County Charity Hospital because it also offered two more years of residency, the first in medicine and the second in surgery. At that time there were no family practice residencies
He didn’t plan to go into private practice. Instead, he chose industrial medicine which eliminated the business end of practicing medicine. It gave him more freedom to move about and to include his four daughters and his wife in his travels and adventures.
Over the years he worked for the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), in Abqaiq and Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia; Global Associates on Kwajalein Island, part of the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Kwajalein Atoll; Mobile Oil in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia; and the U.S. Army as a Department of Army Civilian Employee in Hanau, Germany.
In all but one location he was able to use almost all of the skills he learned during the year of his rotating internship as well as skills from his years as a medical resident and a surgical resident. He read a lot of EKGs and delivered a lot of babies! A few years ago, he learned that a baby girl that he'd delivered on Kwajalein is now an M.D. herself.
He also had time to serve his community in different ways: serving as president of the Medan International School’s Board of Directors and managing to get a swimming pool on the campus; creating a swim team for Ras Tanura students, organizing swim meets and practices; and serving as Abqaiq’s representative to the Aramco Employees Association, hosting the entertainers, musicians, and bands the company brought into the Kingdom and arranging the programs.
There was also time to travel extensively with his family, experiencing many adventures along the way.
Retirement on Guemes Island began in May 1991. Besides continuing to run regularly, tending a big vegetable garden, and, until just recently, capably repairing almost everything that broke or wore out over 31 years. He was a true handyman. His community services expanded considerably in retirement: close to twelve years as one of the three island fire commissioners; multiple terms as president, secretary, and treasurer of the Guemes Island Community Center Association; and participation in the island’s monthly community emergency communications network.
His was a life well spent, devoted to truth, family, work, community service, and last but not least, adventure.
10/11/1927 – 9/1/2022
On September 1, 2022, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather passed away just eleven days before his 65th wedding anniversary and a little over five weeks before his 95th birthday. He leaves a wife and four daughters who will miss him forever.
Nick, as he was known to his friends, came late to his medical education after sailing four years as a merchant marine and four years in the Air Force during the Korean War.
His pre-med education was at the University of California, Riverside, followed by med school at what is now the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. After graduation he chose a rotating internship at San Bernardino County Charity Hospital because it also offered two more years of residency, the first in medicine and the second in surgery. At that time there were no family practice residencies
He didn’t plan to go into private practice. Instead, he chose industrial medicine which eliminated the business end of practicing medicine. It gave him more freedom to move about and to include his four daughters and his wife in his travels and adventures.
Over the years he worked for the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), in Abqaiq and Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia; Global Associates on Kwajalein Island, part of the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Kwajalein Atoll; Mobile Oil in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia; and the U.S. Army as a Department of Army Civilian Employee in Hanau, Germany.
In all but one location he was able to use almost all of the skills he learned during the year of his rotating internship as well as skills from his years as a medical resident and a surgical resident. He read a lot of EKGs and delivered a lot of babies! A few years ago, he learned that a baby girl that he'd delivered on Kwajalein is now an M.D. herself.
He also had time to serve his community in different ways: serving as president of the Medan International School’s Board of Directors and managing to get a swimming pool on the campus; creating a swim team for Ras Tanura students, organizing swim meets and practices; and serving as Abqaiq’s representative to the Aramco Employees Association, hosting the entertainers, musicians, and bands the company brought into the Kingdom and arranging the programs.
There was also time to travel extensively with his family, experiencing many adventures along the way.
Retirement on Guemes Island began in May 1991. Besides continuing to run regularly, tending a big vegetable garden, and, until just recently, capably repairing almost everything that broke or wore out over 31 years. He was a true handyman. His community services expanded considerably in retirement: close to twelve years as one of the three island fire commissioners; multiple terms as president, secretary, and treasurer of the Guemes Island Community Center Association; and participation in the island’s monthly community emergency communications network.
His was a life well spent, devoted to truth, family, work, community service, and last but not least, adventure.