Public official called a 'Vt. original'
Toolbox
By Brent Curtis Staff Writer - Published: June 6, 2009
Charles Nichols Jr. found more ways than most to serve his community during his long lifetime.
Nichols' titles during his 91-year life included mayor, city councilman, select board member, teacher, staff sergeant, pool commissioner, singer in the church choir and youth baseball organizer.
But it wasn't the titles that he held that were used to describe him on Friday, three days after Nichols died.
"He was a nice fellow who did a lot for a lot of people," said Richard Olson, who worked with Nichols at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Proctor.
Similar words were used on Friday to describe Nichols, who lived in Proctor and Montpelier over the years.
Nichols lived most of his life in Proctor where he served the community in a number of capacities, including as a member of the school board where he served until 2005.
"I'll miss it, but I'm getting too old to be there," said Nichols who was 87 years old when he stepped down. "I get too cranky after awhile. We went through a rough time last year with budgets."
Rough going or not, Nichols was remembered as a man who finished what he started.
"If you wanted something done, you asked Charlie," said Evelyn LaFrance, Nichols' sister-in-law. "He was thorough about everything."
Sen. William Doyle, a Republican from Washington County, described Nichols as a "hard-working mayor" when he held that office in Montpelier from 1978 - 82. Doyle also said Nichols was careful to balance his budgets and was regarded as a credible mayor by the Legislature.
Another legislator, Rep. Warren Kitzmiller, a Montpelier Democrat, said he remembered learning the political ropes as a city alderman at the same time that Nichols was mayor. While he rarely saw eye to eye politically with Nichols, Kitzmiller said he regarded the former mayor as a good friend and one of the most colorful characters he ever met.
"He was unique. A curmudgeon. A man of very strong opinions and a quick temper but I very much enjoyed working with him," Kitzmiller said. "I think he was a good mayor in his day and I always enjoyed my time with him."
Former Gov. F. Ray Keyser said he didn't know Nichols when he was in office. But as a Proctor resident and fellow member of the Proctor-Pittsford Country Club, Keyser said he had a good measure of the man and the type of mayor he was.
"He was a straightforward guy who, when he had an opinion, he stuck to it. There was nothing wishy-washy about him," Keyser said.
Former Rutland Mayor Jeffrey Wennberg said he too remembered Nichols' straightforwardness. But what most impressed Wennberg, who worked with Nichols at the Rutland County Solid Waste District, was a legacy of community service that was hard to match.
"He's a Vermont original," Wennberg said. "He's just an amazing man. I don't know that I've ever known anyone who so consistently and thoroughly dedicated his life to his community in such a wide variety of ways. Wherever he lived, he gave back to the community."
In Nichols' closest community, his family, one of his two daughters recalled her father as a man who loved life and the people he knew in it.
Even in his final year of life, when age had taken away his ability to play golf and to do other things that he loved, Johanna Nichols said her father's spirits never flagged and he was popular with everyone at the retirement home where he lived.
"I was impressed to see how he was still so engaged at the end of his life," she said. "It's like what one of his friends said to us 'He got his money's worth out of life.'"
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com
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