George T. Nicholson

1947 - 2020

(News story) BOWLING GREEN - George T. Nicholson, who fed - and employed - generations of townsfolk and college students at Pagliai's Pizza and its popular offshoot, Campus Pollyeyes, died Wednesday in his Bowling Green home. He was 73.

He learned midyear that he had cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said his son Bobby Nicholson, who bought Campus Pollyeyes from his father in 2011.

That's where father and son had coffee every morning, before the elder Mr. Nicholson would head over to Pagliai's on South Main Street - "seven days a week," his son said.

"He'd go in every day. My dad was a very hard worker, and he loved his job and loved what he did," Bobby Nicholson said.

Mayor Mike Aspacher, a former Pagliai's employee, presented Mr. Nicholson with a proclamation this month for the community contributions he made during his nearly 54 years in Bowling Green.

"He was hard working and led by example," said Clarence Hill, Pagliai's general manager and an employee since 1979. "He treated you like family. He did a lot for the town too, with his time, with his food, wherever he was needed."

A supporter and former coach of youth baseball at Bowling Green's Carter Park, Mr. Nicholson was an inductee to the local youth baseball hall of fame. He was an automotive fan - sprint-car hall of famer Rick Ferkel was a longtime friend - and opened the Pagliai's parking lot to summertime classic-car cruise nights.

He was born Aug. 2, 1947, in Hannibal, Mo., to Olive and George L. Nicholson. As a high school student he worked at the Macomb, Ill., location of Pagliai's, founded by three brothers who franchised their pizza restaurant and at one time had 25 Midwest locations. He was asked after high school to work in Iowa City, Iowa, then to open a Pagliai's in Bowling Green.

He bought the Bowling Green store from the brothers about a year after its Feb. 6, 1967, debut, he said in a video to mark the 50th anniversary. He expanded the menu and later moved to a larger building across the street, then opened Campus Polleyes, a block from Bowling Green State University.

He was a member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Bowling Green.

Surviving are his wife, the former Robin Panning, whom he married Aug. 2, 1971; sons, Scott Thomas Nicholson, Robert and Michae; daughters, Christina Rae Nicholson, Kelly Ann Sorley, and Tracy Lynn Ryden; sisters, Nancy Nicholson and Shiela Nicholson; 15 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be Sunday from 1-5 p.m. at Dunn Funeral Home, Bowling Green. The funeral home will require facial coverings and enforce social distancing. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Dayspring Church, Bowling Green.

The family suggests tributes to BG Youth Baseball at Carter Park in Bowling Green.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.