James C. Nicholls died on January 26, 2017 at the Crouse Community Center in Morrisville, NY. He was born in Madison, Wisconsin on January 23, 1930 to Harlan and Dorothy Nicholls. He attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in French language and literature. He joined the Air Force ROTC in 1952, flying B25s for the three years of his service. While in the Air Force, he was stationed in England for two months where he married Maria Carnall from Portugal in 1955. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and then taught at the University of Texas at Austin for two years.
In 1962 he moved with his family to Hamilton, NY where he taught in the Romance Languages Department at Colgate University for 38 years. He led the first Colgate study group to Dijon, France in 1966, and took several groups thereafter. He received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1990 and retired in 2000. For many years, he was Chief Reader for the Educational Testing Service Advanced Placement exam for French. He was a lifelong runner and ran in many local races.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, his daughter Anna Nicholls and son-in-law Thomas Parish of Hamilton, grandchildren Keith and Emma Parish, son Craig Nicholls of Syracuse, and brothers Herbert and Thomas Nicholls of Wisconsin. There will be no service or calling hours.

Affiliations

Air Force