In Memoriam - Barbara Nichols

Eleanor Nichols is director of the Sonoma Film Institute at SSU and also the daughter of Amby Nichols, the first president of SSU. She wrote this testimony to the life of her mother who died last week.

Barbara Adele (Seward) Nichols died peacefully, with family and friends at her bedside, at University Retirement Community, Davis, on February 8. She was 92. A celebration of her life will be held at Sonoma State University in late April.

Barbara was an only child, born in Santa Barbara, on October 29, 1913. Her
parents were Ruth Vogel Seward and Walter J. Seward. Her mother was also born in Santa Barbara.

As a young child Barbara was cared for by her maternal grandmother, Anna Flynn, an Irish immigrant, while her mother worked in a downtown department store. As a young girl Barbara began her lifelong love of reading and music. She was a regular patron of the library, with a special love of poetry and the classics. She took piano lessons for eight years, and was quite accomplished. Although she mostly played for her own enjoyment and occasionally in later years for her family, she spoke of one very special musical experience.

While at Lake Arrowhead with her parents she was playing Chopin in the lodge when Vladimir Horowitz walked in. He invited her and her parents to his cottage where he was preparing for his first US concert tour. She sat with him on the bench of his grand piano and they played a duet together. Barbara attended Santa Barbara public schools, graduating from Santa Barbara High School in 1931. She attended Santa Barbara State College, receiving an AB degree in English in l935, and an elementary teaching credential in l936.

During her junior year at San Jose State she met her future husband, Ambrose R. Nichols, Jr. They became engaged on New Year’s Eve l936. Amby had already relocated to Madison, Wisconsin, where he was completing a doctorate in Chemistry, after his graduation from Cal. For the next two years they
conducted their courtship mostly by mail and Barbara taught fourth grade in Fontana, CA.

Amby and Barbara were married on August 21, l938. Barbara was a stay-at-home wife and mother, a role in which she developed her skills as the chief executive officer of the Nichols family. While Amby pursued his career as a chemistry professor, research chemist, college president; and Elderhostel director, Barbara was chief cook and bottle washer, as well as social coordinator and hostess.-tended to the needs and activities of her growing family, becoming a gourmet cook in the process, and served as the family's social coordinator and hostess.

Barbara was the one who single-handedly arranged the family’s moves, three of which when the kids were infants, from Madison to San Diego, San Diego to Berkeley and back, San Diego to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and back, and San Diego to Santa Rosa. Her final move, in June 2000, to the University Retirement Community, Davis, after Amby’s death, was the only one that was handled for her.

After 62 years of marriage, her move to Davis was the first time she was on her own. She rose to that challenge just as she had to all of those before it. She forged her own way, making new friends and developing new routines. She was as proud of her lovely URC apartment, as she had been of her previous homes. She was proud, too, to be able to live independently until this past June, when a hip fracture restricted her to the URC skilled nursing unit.

After this setback her greatest enjoyment came from visits from family and
friends and meals in the upstairs dining room. Overcoming her own shyness and reserve, she went out of her way to draw out the quiet and engage the reticent. Throughout her life she was independent and optimistic. She kept up on current events and was an avid reader.

Barbara had a keen and lively interest in music and the arts. Along with her husband, she was an active supporter or the Santa Rosa Symphony for nearly 40 years. She was also a member of AAUW, PEO, the Santa Rosa Community Concerts Association, the Symphony League, and the Sonoma State University Friends of the Library. She also loved travel. She and Amby took multiple trips throughout the US, to several Canadian provinces, and in later years abroad to Western and Central Europe, Egypt, and Japan. Upon Amby’s retirement in l976 they bought a VW camper in Germany and spent months camping throughout Europe.

Most of these trips they did on their own, with Barbara as chief planner and navigator and Amby as driver and luggage handler. Her friends and family knew Barbara to be exceedingly generous in her appreciation of others. She was also quick-witted, and her verve and sense of humor could, on occasion, spark outrageous observation and commentary. She had a capacity for love and care that always had room for more.

She is survived by her children, David S Nichols, of Portland, Oregon, Deborah Nichols Poulos and her husband John, of Davis, and Eleanor Nichols, of Cotati; grandchildren, Matt Taggart of Los Angeles, and Kelly Taggart and her husband Andrew Scavullo, of San Francisco; and a great-granddaughter, Samantha Kate, of Los Angeles.

The family requests donations to the Green Music Center at SSU or Yolo
County Hospice.