Michael Nolan

Michael J. Nolan, age 78, of Taunton, MA, died on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at Liberty Commons in Chatham, MA after a long illness. 

He was born on October 16, 1946 to the late George and Rose (Doyle) Nolan in Boston, MA.

Michael grew up in Randolph and liked to say that his second home was Brockton. He was married Nadine, the love of his life.

Michael graduated from Spellman High School in Brockton and Stonehill College in Easton, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. He served in the Coast Guard reserves.

In his younger days, he worked at Fernandes Supermarket and Cape Dory Yachts but found a home with AT&T, now Verizon. He started as a telephone operator to get his foot in the door. He would tell stories of coordinating collect calls for prison inmates and also of the older ladies of South Boston talking about Whitey Bulger and how he kept South Boston “safe”. He transitioned to pole climber and then went on to take computer programming at BU and became a systems analyst.

After 25 years, Michael took an early retirement from Verizon to pursue his dream of writing. He wrote a novel, several short stories and some pieces for political publications. When Nadine retired, they purchased a home on Cape Cod where Michael joined a playwriting workshop. He converted a piece of his novel into a one-act play which was staged as part of a collaborative at a Cape Cod playhouse.

He enjoyed kayaking, hiking on any wooded path and playing his guitar. He was a jazz and blues enthusiast and had an extensive CD collection which included all types of music. A passionate reader, he preferred the printed book to the electronic ones.

Michael and Nadine met on the Bloom bus commuting to Boston for work. They fell in love and were each other’s best friend. They enjoyed traveling, especially at Christmas, their Cape Cod home and the arts community and tooling around the back roads of the Cape in Michael’s red sports car.

In addition to Nadine, he is survived by his sister, Mary Wakeford, his nephew Michael Wakeford and his wife Leslie, his niece Katie Wakeford and her husband Gregg Cusick, all of North Carolina, in addition to several cousins and many good friends from his school, working and writing days.

Relatives and friends are invited to gather on Sunday November 2nd, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the Silva Funeral Home, 80 Broadway, Taunton, where his funeral service will take place at 3:00pm. Interment will be privately held.

In lieu of flowers, memorials or donations may be made to Broad Reach Hospice, 390 Orleans Road, Chatham, MA 02650, or Cape Rep Theater, 3299 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631.