Arthur Boylston Nichols III

Arthur Boylston Nichols III, known to some as "Nick," died at age 84, at home in New Canaan, Conn., early Saturday morning, May 14, 2011. He was the devoted husband of Frances A. Nichols (deceased), the loving father of Christina A. Nichols, Arthur B. Nichols IV, (both of New Canaan), Peter B. Nichols, of Weston, and John A. Nichols, (deceased), as well as the proud grandfather of Elizabeth S. Nichols, Jonathan N. Nichols, Lauren P. Nichols, Katharine W. Nichols, Hilary A. Nichols, and Hannah N. Carter. Mr. Nichols was born in Taunton, to Arthur B. Nichols Jr. and Dorothea Newbury Nichols in 1926, and spent his childhood there. He attended the Providence Country Day School, and graduated from Milton Academy (1944) and Harvard University (1948) where he belonged to the Hasty Pudding Club, the Lampoon, and cofounded the Krokodiloes, the original a cappella group at Harvard. In his early years there he held the rank of Private in the U.S. Army, and was learning to speak Japanese in preparation for the invasion of Japan at the end of World War II. After Harvard he went to Washington D.C. with the objective of joining the State Department Foreign Service. Before the appointment was confirmed however, he and Frances Adams were married in 1949, in Orleans, and he decided against an ambassadorial career. They settled in Washington D.C. where, he worked for General Telephone and sang with the Augmented 8, a local a cappella group. Later, the Nichols lived in Evanston, IL, for a brief period while he continued to work for General Tel. In 1956 they relocated to Winchester, where he studied at Harvard Business School, graduating as a Baker Scholar in 1958. The family then moved to New Canaan, and he took a job with McKinsey & Company in New York City, as a management consultant. His next career move was to Celanese Corporation, where he rose to become Director of Quality Management. After officially retiring, he continued consulting and was a member of the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards. Through the years he became involved in many New Canaan organizations. He was Clerk of Session of The First Presbyterian Church for two separate terms, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Country School, and Chairman, Major Gifts of The United Fund. In addition he served as President of The Little League, The Winter Club, The Country Club, Waveny Care Center, and The Nature Center. In 1963, he appeared in the Barbershop Quartet in the Town Players production of "The Music Man," and for many years anchored the Tenor section in the First Presbyterian Church Choir. He loved reading history, but one of his greatest joys was sailing. As a youth he and his cousins spent their summers in East Orleans, piloting a variety of small boats in the waters of Pleasant Bay and environs. In later years few things gave him more pleasure than leaving the mooring in a steady breeze and tacking out into the bay with Frannie in their Beetle Cat. A memorial service for Mr. Nichols will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, June 4, at The Congregational Church, 23 Park St., New Canaan, Conn., with a reception to follow. A private burial service will be held later this summer at the family cemetery plot in Orleans. Contributions in memory of Mr. Nichols may be made to Mid-Fairfield Hospice, 180 School Road, P.O. Box 4898, Wilton, CT 06897. For online condolences visit www.Hoytfuneral home.com.