Alexander Nichols Obituary

Alexander V. Nichols

October 9, 1924 - March 9, 2015

Professor Emeritus Alexander Vladimir Nichols, Ph.D. of the University of California at Berkeley, passed away at home surrounded by his family after a long battle with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS).

Alex was a professor of Biophysics who studied heart disease (cholesterol and lipoproteins) with his mentor John Gofman and Frank Lindgren at Donner Laboratory. Working at Cal for more than forty years, Dr. Nichols retained his passion for science during his entire life. Long after his retirement, Alex continued to follow research in his field and others.

Dr. Nichols served on the National Institute of Health's Lipid Metabolism Advisory Committee as well as their Heart, Lung, and Blood Research Review Committee from 1981-1984. In 1989, the University of California Department of Health and Medical Sciences recognized Professor Nichols for his outstanding teaching in the basic sciences.

Born in San Francisco to Russian immigrant parents Maria and Vladimir Nichols, Alex spoke Russian as a child at home and remained fluent throughout his life. He attended Dudley Stone Grammar and Lowell High School. He spent a year at UC Berkeley before his service in the Army Air Force during WWII, stationed in Trinidad. Returning to Berkeley, he studied Physics as an undergraduate and earned his doctorate in Biophysics in 1956.

In 1955, he fell in love with the girl next door, professional dancer Sally Streets, of New York City Ballet. After her retirement from the stage, they married and raised their children Robert, Kyra, and Alex, Jr. in Kensington. Alex was a loving husband and father with a great sense of humor, delighting in hiking and camping with his children. An avid walker, Dr. Nichols was often seen exploring the hills of Berkeley.

All three of his children became artists: Robbie a choreographer, Kyra a ballerina, and Alex Jr. a stage designer. As a result, Dr. Nichols developed a great interest in the arts and became a generous patron.

Alex is survived by his wife Sally, of Kensington, his daughter Kyra Nichols (David Gray) of Princeton, NJ, his son Alex Jr. (Sonya Delwaide), of Berkeley, daughter-in-law Madison Nichols, of Tomales, and grandchildren Joseph, Cameron, and Isabel. He was preceded in death by his eldest son Robert.

A private family ceremony will take place later in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Comprehensive Cancer Center: Sutter Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, 2001 Dwight Way, Berkeley 94704.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle from Mar. 12 to Mar. 13, 2015.
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Memories and Condolences
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6 Entries

Dear Sally and the family of Dr. Alex Nichols,

I hope you are well amid the covid-19 pandemic.

Professor Nichols is still living in my heart. I want to say Thank You Very MUCH being kind and generous to me when I was young.

You were my undergraduate advisor at Cal 30 years ago.

Thank you for your undue support and encouragement that helped me to be brave and strong to pursue my dream and became a physician.

I want to let you and your family know that your kindness changed my life.

And I will pass on your kindness to the next generation and many others.

I will talk about your legacy with a group of Chinese young people this coming Saturday and I will let them know how your kindness made a such a great difference and impact on a life of a young foreign student 30 years ago.

I miss you. But your kindness given to me is everlasting and I hope to spread it like a ripple to benefit many other young people like me.

May God bless your family and we will meet again one day.

With lots of love and respect,
Shelley

Shelley Fung

Student

September 25, 2020

My deepest condolences and prayers to you and family, Sally.

Margie Elias Eisenberg

March 17, 2015

What a life you had, Professor Nichols! May you rest in peace.
We will miss you.

Verna Lin

March 17, 2015

Those people who establish friendships as children - friendships that last a lifetime - are lucky indeed. I am one of those fortunate ones: Alex and I were lifelong friends.

We went to the same schools (Dudley Stone, Lowell High, UC Berkeley), served during WW II in the same Air Force, mutually enjoyed nature. Together we appreciated Yosemite (to the top of Half Dome) much of Marin County, the Russian and Smith River country and Banff and Lake Louise.

Ever polite and even=tempered, I cannot remember him ever swearing or using losing his temper.

Alex had an extraordinary sense of human and was a sly, complex punster. I attribute to Alex, for example: ""Four walls do not a prism make." (It is three.)

Alex was quietly generous. On one of our Smith River trips, he encountered a grizzled old timer who had poor eyesight. Somehow, Alex arranged to have him provided with glasses.

It goes without saying that Alex was the anchor of an extraordinary family, of which he was justifiably proud.

Alex attended my wedding, in southern California, in 1950. I suspect he bears some responsibility for delaying our honeymoon departure by putting a small jar of peanut butter under the accelerator of our 1946 Hudson.

Alex was always very sharp. At Lowell (one of the best hight schools in the nation), Time magazine in those days had an annual quiz to determine which student was best informed about the news. No surprise: Alex won.

Alex and I shared a special appreciation for the prewar Bay Area. And I, moving to Oregon, missed it. Alex knew that.
Starting in late 2013, Alex systematically scanned the Bay Area papers for articles he would send me that he thought would interest me - and he was right! They were much appreciated and inspired further dialog. Articles by Carl Nolte were a favorite. A stream of those articles continued to arrive until late 2014, when Alex informed me of his difficulties.

And then the sad news. I shall miss him. We will all miss him. Alex Nichols was a great friend, a gentle man,and a gentleman.

Farewell, old buddy. I hope we meet again.

Alan Meyer

March 15, 2015

Dear Sally and family,
My sincere condolences on Alex's passing. I so enjoyed seeing him in the Nature Area or on the street, pushing the grandchildren, and remember you introducing me to Kyra and family when you visited Tilden with them.
Alex would ask me "How's your spirit" and I felt he was kind and interested when he asked that.
He was a real gentleman, and we all will miss him with you.

Alan Kaplan

March 13, 2015

To the family of Dr. Alex Nichols,
I am so sorry to see the passing of Dr. Nichols. He was my undergraduate advisor when I was in Cal from 1975 to 1979 and he help me with my research and the completion of my Biophysics: Medical Physics Option honors thesis. He also encouraged and helped me prepare and give the commencement speech to the graduating Biophysics undergraduate and graduate students. I remember him being very kind and patient with me. Working in his lab really made an impression on me. I still remember his two lab assistants, Pat (the tall one, forgot her last name) and Elaine Gong. Although I did not go into research and the academia, I am a periodontist practicing in South San Francisco for over 25 years, Dr. Nichols played a huge part in my growth as a person, a health professional, and a teacher (I also taught for over 10 years in the periodontal residency program in UCSF School of Dentistry). I wish now that I took the time and effort to contact him and thank him.
My thoughts and prayers to all the members of Dr. Nichols's family. May he rest in eternal peace.
With deepest sympathy,
Ray Moncada

Ray Moncada

March 13, 2015

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