William John Nissen Jr.

William John Nissen, Jr.
William John Nissen, Jr., known to his friends and family as John, died suddenly at age 61 on November 4, 2020, after a cardiac arrest.
He is survived by his parents, Kay and Bill Nissen of Trumbull, CT, his brother Jim Nissen and Jim's partner Kate Jager of Seymour, CT; his sister Julie DeCarli and nephew Dan DeCarli of Keene, NH; and niece Liz DeCarli of Milford, CT; as well as his aunt, Mary Weaver of Belfast, ME; cousin Amy Lyon, her husband Kevin Donahue, and their children Owen and Dylan of Washington, DC. He also is survived by his writing partner and dearest friend, Dr. Miriam Arnold of Staten Island, New York.
John graduated from Trumbull High school in 1977 as a National Merit Scholar. As editor of the school paper, The Golden Eagle, he won a Hartford Courant journalism award and was honored by the Columbia University school of Journalism. He also was a member of the swim team, marching band and chorus. He studied at University of Connecticut, Boston University and Syracuse University.
John was an avid historian, and active in community organizations. He was a member and past president of the Shelton Jaycees. He was the 53rd president of the Connecticut Jaycees, CT Jaycees Statesman #659 and Junior Chamber of Commerce International Senator #63175. He was also a past Master of his Masonic Lodge (Fidelity St. Johns #3). Always politically conscious, one of the last thoughts he communicated from the hospital on election night was his pleasure that his vote had counted.
John considered he had a second home in Maine at his Aunt Mary's and he made longtime friends with people there. As an original member of Myth Weavers Theater company of Belfast, Maine, John appeared onstage several times and provided production assistance for the Playhouse and street fair events.
Traveling with Miriam Arnold gave him great joy. Michigan, New Hampshire, Maine, and Nova Scotia were among their favorite destinations. In 2015 they followed the replica French frigate The Hermione, General Lafayette's ship, to each port where it stopped on the east coast.
He considered writing to be his career. His day jobs included software development (poetry for computers) and computer repair. At the time of his death he was the co-publisher of two blogs and a contributor to several others.
In view of the current pandemic, a celebration of his life will be held later. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a non-profit organization that supported his Belfast theater work, Creative Learning and Performance, Inc., 49 High Street Belfast, ME 04915 (clapbelfastmaine.org) and Doctors Without Borders USA, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030 (doctorswithoutborders.org).