Marina Louise Nichols
January 1, 1947 - March 27, 2017
Resident of Santa Cruz
Marina Nichols left us on March 27, 2017. She battled colon cancer for a year with grace, good spirits, and a sunshine smile – living a very full and productive life. She was still playing tennis, running, traveling, working many marine mammal rescue hours, and enjoying many social gatherings.
Marina made everyone around her feel better about themselves and life in general.
Marina Louise Nichols was born on January 1, 1947 in Washington DC to Dr. E. Ray and Marion Nichols. Her family moved to Whittier CA in 1950 where she spent her school years, graduating from Pioneer High School as Valedictorian. She earned a BA from the University of Redlands, where her grandfather had been a professor of speech and drama. After her father, also a theatre professor, became founding president of the University of the Seven Seas, Marina spent a sophomore semester on the ship circumnavigating the world, visiting ports including Hong Kong and Cairo. Her junior year, she studied at the Semester on the United Nations at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, enjoying theatre, Times Square New Year's Eve and sundry other adventures in New York City.
With an MA in education, Marina taught junior high school social studies in Duarte CA for three years, after which, she became a Probation Officer in Orange County. She obtained an MA in Marriage and Family Counseling from Chapman College and transitioned to Orange County Superior Court as a mediator. This was her calling: she was very talented at bringing extremely upset parents together to think of their children first and arrive at a custody agreement. She spent many happy years mediating, playing tennis, bicycling (even centuries), ocean swimming, and running while living in Laguna Beach.
She was an only child and her parents also had no siblings. She was very close with her father especially. He taught her to throw a softball, ride a bike, to swim, the love of the sea, and to appreciate the hottest jalapenos in town!
Marina retired in July of 2005 and moved to Santa Cruz to be with her new love, Jesse. They were married in 2006 and lived an extremely pleasurable and interesting life until her passing. Marina's close friends Robin and Ruth from the Mediation Department introduced Jesse to her. They were also his sisters-in-law. She really enjoyed having a new family, having lost both her parents by then. Shortly after moving to Santa Cruz, she found her most fervent passion, marine mammal rescue, volunteering in Moss Landing with the Marine Mammal Center (TMMC).
Marina is survived by her husband Jesse Fielding, his son and daughter Sammy and Sophie, her stepdaughter Lynna DeBoer Fletcher and Lynna's two sons, Iain and Sean.
Marina had many friends from many experiences (working, tennis, school, marine mammal rescue, and mutual friends). To know her was a privilege – so kind, sweet, sharp, non-judgmental, and always enthusiastic about the next adventure – always thinking about everyone else but herself. She was also a very good competitor and a very tough opponent on the tennis court.
Marina was a very beautiful and vivacious woman and always managed to look very cute and sexy.
Her spirit was very strong and will live with all of us – we all learned a good deal about how to live from her.
Marina's memorial will be held in early May and will be officiated by her lifelong friend Julie Steinbach.
Any donations in her memory should be made to TMMC, The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC.org), the Dolphin Research Center, Grassy Key, FL (dolphins.org), or the Turtle Hospital, Marathon Key, FL (turtlehospital.org). To share a memory or condolence with Marina's family please visit www.pacificgardenschapel.com.

View the online memorial for Marina Louise Nichols