Evelyn Nichols, born 9/24/1921, passed away peacefully at her Santa Barbara home on June 8, 2021, three months shy of her 100th birthday. Evelyn, the older daughter of Gussie and Samuel Lishner, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, attended Erasmus Hall High School and then Brooklyn College.
During the war years, she put her keen interest in science to work at Langley Field, VA. assisting in the installation and calibration of the Norden bombsight in the B-17 and B-25 bombers that were so key to the war effort.
Evelyn and her husband Milton Schwartz bought their first home in Merrick, Long Island in 1952. When their 2 small children became of school age, Evelyn returned to college earning a Masters Degree in Education and started what would become a long, rewarding career teaching 4th and 5th grade elementary school. Shortly after the death of Milton, Evelyn retired from teaching, setting the stage for the next chapter in her life story. Evelyn moved to Santa Barbara in 1977, often referring to it as “the best decision I ever made”.
Evelyn married her second husband, Andrew Nichols in 1982. Together they travelled the world and enjoyed a rich, rewarding marriage of over 30 years until Andrew’s death in 2014.
Evelyn was an avid reader, and her Santa Barbara years were filled with creative labors of love including being a docent at the Santa Barbara museum of Art, teaching reading to inmates at the SB County Jail, and writing and publishing her memoirs- “Framing A Childhood, from Kovno to Brooklyn”, and “Lifelines, A Guide to Writing Your Personal Recollections” (along with Anne Lowenkopf).
In 2005 Evelyn and Andrew hired Lily Franco to help with cooking, shopping and light housekeeping. Evelyn and Lily developed a close friendship and special bond over the years, and in 2014 Lily became Evelyn’s live-in caregiver. Theirs was a trusted and loving relationship that endured until Evelyn’s death.
Evelyn is survived by daughter Wendy Schwartz and her husband Mark Dowie, son Andrew Schwartz, loving caregiver Lily Franco, extended family and many friends.
Her wisdom, curiosity and kindness are missed by all who had the good fortune to know her.
