Sheila Nichols

1932 - 2024

Sheila Nichols
12/10/1932 - 07/02/2024
Sheila Ann Murphy Nichols was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on December 10, 1932.
She was a third-generation Irish American; her grandfather, Joseph Murphy, came from Ireland to the US via Canada by boat by himself at age 13.
She was a deeply curious and independent woman who approached her life through the lens of history. From that lens, as her three daughters, we came to understand her and the world she inhabited.
She moved to San Francisco in 1956, where she met her husband, Jack. However, they did not marry until 1968. She was an independent woman, working as a stockbroker at a time when women rarely entered those spaces. She served on the board of Midwest Communications (WCCO) and became a docent at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum for a decade.
When she was fifty-two, she returned to Art school to pursue her dream of being an artist. She loved to travel and hike. Our fondest memories as a family were the hikes we did in Yosemite High camps.
Sheila's final endeavor before she passed was to build a Japanese rock garden in her home in Sonoma. At eighty-nine years old, we watched her drag granite rocks through the gravel in the high summer heat. At the end of the days, she sat quietly in the shade, drawing the trees she planted, pines and maples next to the rocks.
Sheila died on July 2, 2024, at 12:49. We will miss her dearly. She is predeceased by her Husband, Jack Nichols, and Brother, Joseph Murphy. Her three daughters, Alexandra, Lizzie, and Leslie, and her four grandchildren. Markus, Anya, Benito, and JR.
The service will be held at St. Dominic's Catholic Church