Paul Alden Nichols, 90 of Medford, passed peacefully on April 22nd at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, under the compassionate care of the David James Hospice Unit.
Paul was born in Cambridge, August 19, 1927 and lived in Medford for his entire life. He was married to his late wife Dorothy “Dot” (MacInnis) and for 54 years they shared a life in the home that he built for her.
A woodworker by trade, Paul created giant structures such as a twenty-foot seahorse for a shipping firm, dinosaur displays for the Museum of Science, and the walk through computer at Boston’s Computer Museum. He created designs for living such as the face of MBTA Station Clocks, phone kiosks, church pulpits, and park benches. He was commissioned to carve the replacement of the eagle on the U.S.S. Constitution “Old Ironsides.” Paul worked for engineering firms, model design companies, made original wood patterns, and taught drawing. He was employed by the Boston Naval Shipyard, Stone & Webster, United Engineering and F.W. Dixon Company.
A veteran of World War II, Paul served his country and in so many ways spent an entire lifetime serving others. He was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Medford. Paul read the Boston Globe from front to back every day of his life and wished for a world where kindness transcends intolerance.
Paul will be dearly missed by his son David Nichols and his wife Debra of Andover, his grandchildren Kate Evans and her husband Bryan also of Andover and Hannah Nichols of Boston. He leaves behind his cherished great-grandson Eddie Evans.
Paul was the son of the late Morrill Nichols and his wife Isabel (Dearborn). He is survived by his older brother Raymond Nichols of Wilmington, Delaware and younger sister Doris Gordon of Gaithersburg, Maryland.
A service of remembrance will be held on Friday, April 27th at the First
Baptist Church, 29 Oakland Street, Medford at 10:30 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made for pancreatic cancer research to the We Care Fund, Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Surgery, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Beals-Geake-Magliozzi Funeral Home of Medford. For additional information, please visit, www.magliozzifuneralhome.com.