1924 - March 27, 1992
John H. Nicholson was a pioneering contributor to the genealogy of the Nicholsons of Atlanta, as well as an enthusiastic supporter of the early development of the Clan MacNicol Society in North America and worldwide. He passed away on Mar. 27, 1992, at his home in Atlanta, after a long bout with cancer.
Born in 1924 in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., he was the youngest of the three Nicholson brothers who along with Burke and Harman played a fundamental role in the renaissance of the Clan during the 1980s.
Long before the availability of on-line research tools like ancestry.com and DNA-databases such as Family Tree DNA, John Nicholson and his two brothers hired the celebrated Scottish genealogist Donald Whyte to conduct an exhaustive genealogical survey of all the parish church records of Scotland to trace their ancestor Duncan Nicholson (previously MacNicol) to the Hebrides in the 1770s. This research eventually led to a successful application to the Lord Lyon King of Arms in Edinburgh for the grant of Scottish Arms to John and his three sons.
During the mid-1980s, John Nicholson corresponded extensively with Murray Nicolson in Massachusetts and provided much support to Murray’s efforts to establish the Clan MacNicol Society first in the U.S.A., then in Canada. John and his relatives hosted our late Chief, Iain MacNeacail of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac and his late wife Pam on their first official visit to North America in 1985, which included a well-remembered stop in Atlanta.
He entered Princeton from Woodberry Forest, following in the footsteps of his brother C. B. H. '42. John was a natural athlete. At Princeton he was a member of the fencing and crew teams and also engaged in swimming, track, and tennis. He was a member of Campus Club and roomed with Carlton McKenney. He graduated from Princeton with a B.S.E. in aeronautical engineering in 1944 and served as a technical sergeant flying in B29s in the 20th Air Force's 15th Bomber Wing, stationed in Guam and Saipan.
After finishing his military service, John spent his life-time as an official of the CocaCola Co., starting in 1947 with the CocaCola Export Corp., With which he held various marketing and administrative positions in Germany, Austria, Hawaii, and Japan. He returned to the U.S. in 1953 and became personnel manager of Coca-Cola in 1961, assuming other positions with that organization until his retirement in 1979.
John married Charlotte Louise Johnson in 1954, and after her death in 1979, he married Jane Anne Lydon Hughes, who survives him. In addition to his widow, John is survived by his sons Robert Burke, and William Charles, John Harman; three stepsons, Thomas Richard Hughes Jeffery Richard Hughes, and James Richard Hughes; two brothers, Hammond B. Jr. and Charles B. H.; two sisters Martha Carolyn Nicholson Worley and Lucia Harman Nicholson Lines; four grandchildren; and two stepgrandchildren.
Two of John’s sons, R. Burke Nicholson and William "Bill" C. Nicholson are long-time members of the Clan MacNicol Society of North America. Burke has served for many years as Games Commissioner for Georgia, while Bill held the executive positions of Secretary, then President of the Society.