Eastern Propane Corp. mourns loss of Shirley Nicholson

Nicholson

Shirley Mae Nicholson, wife of Eastern Propane Corp. Chairman Bob Nicholson and mother of Eastern Propane Corp. President Rob Nicholson, died May 12 in Sparta, New Jersey. She was 85.

Shirley served as the corporate secretary at Eastern Propane for more than 30 years and brought her love of involvement and volunteering to many organizations, including the National Propane Gas Association’s scholarship committee, the family says. She was also active in her community.

Shirley was born Feb. 27, 1932, in Butler, New Jersey, where she grew up, graduating from Butler High School in 1949. She and Bob married in 1953, and they moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, until Bob was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1955. They returned to Bob’s hometown of Oak Ridge, New Jersey, where they started their family and Shirley started her life as a “stay-at-home” mother, having three girls (Debra, Wendi and Linda), while Bob grew the family’s propane business. Shirley, Bob and the girls moved to Sparta in 1961 and Rob was born in 1964.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial donations be made to the Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 302, Oak Ridge, NJ 07438, or the Sparta Historical Society, P.O. Box 312, Sparta, NJ 07871.

Online condolences may be offered at www.dignitymemorial.com. Read the full obituary here.