Karen McGinty Nichol

June 7, 1942 – June 21, 2022

Karen McGinty Nichol, 80, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and loyal friend to many, entered into eternity June 21, 2022. She passed at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California, due to complications stemming from Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Karen was born in York, Pennsylvania to Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Emmett McGinty (Doc and Mary). She lived an idyllic life with her parents and her younger brother, Joe, at their lovely English Tudor home on Manor Road. Doc and Mary had many wonderful friends, and entertained often. Karen was a perfect daughter – gracious, elegant, intelligent, and beautiful. She and Joe enjoyed many adventures together during those years – the siblings remained close through adulthood until she lost her dear Joe to cancer at age 48.

Karen met her loving husband of 61 years, Francis Richard Nichol, Jr. (Dick), both age 13, at an evening cotillion of the York Junior Assembly, when Dick’s best friend called him to ask that he look after his girlfriend, as he was unable to attend the dance that evening. The family never let Dick forget that he had “stolen” the love of his life, Karen, away from his best friend Terry, who forgave Dick rather quickly as it was obvious to all that Chapter One of a Great Love Story had begun.

Karen and Dick were married on December 27, 1960 at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in York – they were 18 years old. Karen moved to State College with Dick, who was enrolled at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). Their first child, Betsy, and second child, Nic, were born while Dick completed his Bachelor, Masters, and Doctorate degrees at Penn State.

The family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Dick had accepted a job with The Upjohn Company. Their third child, McG, arrived shortly thereafter. Karen and Dick made many lifelong friends during their years in Kalamazoo. In 1972, the family moved to Newport Beach, California, where Karen and Dick have lived for the past 50 years. During that time they have made many, many more meaningful and wonderful friendships.

In 1975, the couple decided that Dick would start his own clinical research company. Karen, while raising three young children, dedicated herself to the venture. She assumed the role of administrative assistant, which she performed from a large desk crammed into a corner of the master bedroom. The company grew and realized great success, allowing Karen to “retire” and focus on raising her children.

Karen applied her curious nature, her vast intellect and her enthusiasm for things and places unknown into creating a fun-loving, adventurous, road trip-filled life for Dick and the kids…it was a fabulous time.

Karen found beauty, comedy and love in everyone and everything she touched. Her friends adored her. She made friends everywhere she went, in every group she joined, and loved them all. Karen joined the Assistance League shortly after moving to Newport Beach. She served on the board of S.P.I.N. (Serving People In Need) for many years. She attended Bible Study, played bridge, monitored the Dow on the daily, took classes at OCC, never missed one of her children’s or grandchildren’s events, and found time to accompany Dick all over the world as he grew his business.

She was a devout Catholic all her life - her faith never wavered. Karen loved going to mass at Our Lady Queen of Angels. She gave thanks and praise when her life was filled with blessings, and she found comfort in her faith when her brother, Joe, lost his battle with cancer, when her precious son, Nic, passed suddenly, and when her illness took away her strength and stamina.

Although Karen’s final chapter has been written, the great love she knew with Dick will continue to inspire, her family’s reverence for a woman who floated above the fray with grace and dignity will continue to resonate, and the quality friendships she embraced and cultivated will surely be remembered by all who were fortunate enough to have been part of her ethereal, wonderful world.

Karen was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Mary McGinty, her brother, Joe McGinty, and her son, Nic Nichol.

Karen is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Dick. She also leaves behind her daughter, Betsy Van’t Hof, and son McG (Alix) Nichol, grandchildren Kaes (Billie) Van’t Hof, Elizabeth (Tim) Buchanan, Brecht Van’t Hof, Harper Nichol, Grace Nichol, Emmett Nichol, and great-granddaughter Valerie Van’t Hof.

A funeral mass will be held Monday, June 27, 2022 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach, California, followed by a reception and Celebration of Life at “A” Crystal Cove Restaurant in Newport Coast, California. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Karen’s memory to S.P.I.N. (Serving People In Need / spinoc.org).

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments

but what is woven into the lives of others” – Thucydides

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.pacificviewcalifornia.com for the Nichol family.