Born: August 23, 1937
Died: March 17, 2018
Robert C. Nicholas, III was born in Providence, R. I. son of Robert Carter Nicholas ’30 and Jane Chace Nicholas. He was a descendant of a long line of Yale alumni. In addition to his father, his grandfather Malcolm A. Chace was 1896 Sheff, and two uncles were Yale grads: Malcolm G. Chace Jr., ’27 and Arnold B. Chace III, ’37.
Nick, as he described himself in the Banner, prepared for Yale at St. Paul’s, graduating in 1956. He attended Yale with the class of 1960 from 1956 until 1959. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps serving on active and reserve duty for six years. In September 1960 he returned to Yale and joined our class, graduating in June 1962.
Nick was a resident of Pierson College, played on the Pierson soccer team, was a member of Chi Psi and a history major. His Class Book entry listed “government work” as his future occupation and that was exactly his career.
He was a career civil servant, working in the Department of Defense and in the Navy Department. He served on the staff of U.S. House of Representatives committee on Appropriations. He then served as Advisor on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to the Secretary of Defense and with the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels.
Nick died at home in Washington, D.C. He was survived by his wife Lynn Holman Nicholas and two sons, R. Carter Nicholas, a resident of Madrid, Spain (born in 1968) and Philip H. Nicholas of Yarmouth, Maine (born in 1974). His eldest son William C. Nicholas died in 1996. He was also survived by six loving grandchildren William, Robert, Josephine, James, John and Olivia, and by his sisters Clover and Jenifer.
A memorial service was held at Christ Church, Georgetown in April. In lieu of flowers, the family suggested donations to the Ruesch Center at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital or to Christ Church in Georgetown.
Robert G. Oliver