PHILLIP NICHOLSON

1944 - 2021

NICHOLSON Phillip Ray Nicholson Phillip Nicholson passed away Saturday, October 9, 2021. Phillip was born July 2, 1944, in the rural community of Jarvisville, West Virginia. The son of the late Howard and Ethel Nicholson and the brother of Elaine Spera, deceased, and Terry of Wooster, Ohio. Howard and Ethel taught Phillip the value of hard work and education and the difference between right and wrong. Sister-in-law Bonnie (Terry) and nephew David (Elaine) also have passed away. Terry, Terry's companion Cathy, brother-in-law John (Elaine) Spera of Milton, Delaware, five nephews and nieces and 10 great-nephews and great-nieces as well as one great-great niece survive. In 1950, Phillip started grade school at the two-room Jarvisville schoolhouse. The family moved to a dairy farm on the outskirts of Jarvisville in 1955. Phillip went on to graduate in Bristol High School's Class of '62,' and then earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics at West Virginia University and Iowa State University, respectively. He took a position as an antitrust economist with the Atomic Energy Commission in 1972 and over the next 35 years also worked for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Retiring in 2007, Phillip spent several summers touring and camping in the West. He also pursued his two great loves, tennis and platform tennis. Phillip was committed to the support of post-secondary education. Through the West Virginia University Foundation, he established the Antoinette McClung - Jack Roach Scholarship to benefit Liberty High School graduates who live in his native community that was formerly served by Bristol High School and Salem High School. The honorees of this scholarship were two educators at Bristol High School and Jarvisville Grade School who strongly influenced his life. Through the Iowa State University Foundation, Phillip also established the Wayne William Gross Graduate Fellowship in economics to support graduate education. Wayne was an Iowa farm boy who befriended Phillip in his first year of graduate school far from home. After earning a Master of Science degree in economics, Wayne joined the Marines and served in Vietnam. Wayne died in combat in 1968 and was awarded the Silver Star posthumously. In 2014, Phillip was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, the same incurable lung disease that took his mother and sister. In 2015 he moved to Wooster, Ohio, near his brother. Terry will spread Phillip's ashes on the old family farm in Jarvisville. As per Phillip's wishes, there will be no calling hours and no service will be held at this time. Phillip's body has been donated to the Cleveland Clinic for research and the study of pulmonary fibrosis. A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family would like to thank the staff at Brookdale for all their care and support during Phillip's stay. The family would like to thank the staff at Brookdale for all their care and support during Phillip's stay.