JoAnne M Nickerson

JoAnne M. Nickerson passed away peacefully in the early morning of January 17th after a courageous battle with cancer. She never let it slow her down. She continued to spend time with her family and faithfully attended her Thursday afternoon painting classes.

The eldest daughter of Colonel Walter H. and Beatrice (Brown) Murray she moved frequently in her youth. She was born in Manhattan, Kansas on October 7, 1930 and graduated from George Washington High School on the island of Guam, in the South Pacific. She graduated from Kansas State University and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.It was here that she met her husband of 55 years, Richard. She raised her family in Scarborough Maine, her home for 50 years. They biked and skied many years in New England and after his retirement they enjoyed traveling and biking throughout Europe

She is predeceased by her husband Richard A. Nickerson. She is survived by her son Stephen Nickerson, and his wife Kathleen of Quincy, MA, daughter Melissa Nickerson-Pratt and her husband Bill Pratt of Westbrook, ME, and daughter Heather Nickerson and her partner Scott Labbe also of Westbrook; her grandchildren, Michael Pratt of Austin, TX, Darcy Pratt, her partner Wes Pifer and her only great-grandchild, Jayden of Raleigh, North Carolina, Stephanie Nickerson of Quincy, MA and Tyler and Sawyer Carleton of Windham. She is survived by her sister Nancy Gatz of Kansas and brothers David and Bob Murray of Colorado.

She had a delightful sense of humor. Following her death, her family was informed by her lawyer that she requested to have her body cremated and the remains placed in an empty Corn Flakes box for transportation to the family burial plot. “Why spend all of that money on an urn?” she had asked her attorney. She was loved by all who knew her and will be greatly missed. Services will be held at a later date in her home state of Kansas.