YARMOUTH PORT, Mass. – Surrounded by her loving family, Sara Hay Nichols, 86, passed away peacefully in her home on June 5, 2021. A resident of Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts since 1977, Sara was best known for her kind-heartedness, loyalty, and a deep respect for nature. Externally, she was extraordinarily thoughtful and accepting of others, showing little ego or self-concern. On the inside, she was an unusually clear thinker with quiet, steadfast determination. Wonderfully organized, Sara lived productively with a great deal of self-discipline.She cared for herself through regular exercise, yoga, and healthy eating. Daily walks around Thatcher Shore Road, The Historical Society Woods and the Bass Hole Boardwalk renewed her energy and spirit. For many years, Sara served as a volunteer field guide for the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History where she shared her love and knowledge of shorebirds and marsh life. As a Trustee of the Woodside Cemetery, Sara played a key role in ensuring the cemetery’s expansion remained in harmony with the surrounding nature trails. Sara was born on July 7, 1934, in Portland, Maine, to Evelyn and Merrill Hay. After attending Cape Elizabeth High School, she graduated from Colby-Sawyer College in 1954. At the age of 17, on double-blind date, Sara caught the eye of her date’s friend, Barry Nichols. Barry recalls, “the flutter in my stomach” when he bumped into Sara at church six months later. Eventually he invited her to go dancing on the pier at Old Orchard Beach and they were married in 1955.After college, Sara began her career as medical administrator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. In 1960, they settled in Marblehead, Mass where she and Barry raised their two children, Tom and Susan. Sara stayed active in the outdoors, skiing weekends at Cannon Mountain, playing tennis, and crewing on “Dirigo,” the family’s Town Class sailboat at the Corinthian Yacht Club. After taking time-off to raise her family, Sara returned to the medical field finishing her career at Hospice of Cape Cod.In retirement, Sara kept her mind active by devouring books and travelling to see the world. Trips “Down East” to the harbor towns of her home state of Maine were a favorite vacation. She loved her family and was extremely proud to watch her four granddaughters grow into productive adults. Since 2001, Sara spent winters with Barry at The Meadows in Sarasota, Florida, where she took her daily walk, played golf and tennis, and enjoyed the Floridian birdlife. During the past year, Sara and Barry cocooned at the Meadows with her beloved sister-in-law, Sukey Wagner, and partner, Frank Smith, riding out the pandemic.Not surprisingly, Sara embraced palliative and hospice care when she was diagnosed with cancer. She died the same way she lived – with grace and dignity, caring for others to the end. Always an optimist, she recently told the family, “See you next year in Sarasota. I’ll be back as a butterfly.”Sara is survived by her husband, Barrett Nichols of Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts; her daughter, Susan Nichols of Exeter, New Hampshire; her son, Thomas Nichols and his wife Marylisa of Duxbury, Massachusetts; four granddaughters, Ella and Grace Collins of Exeter, and Emily and Olivia Nichols of Duxbury; her sister-in-law, Susan Wagner of Colebrook, Connecticut; and nephew, John Hay of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was predeceased by her brother, Edward Hay and his wife Susan of Rehoboth, Massachusetts.All friends of Sara and her family are invited to share remembrances at a luncheon reception to be held at Cummaquid Golf Club in Yarmouth Port on Wednesday, June 23, at 12 p.m., noon. Service and burial will be private.
Gifts can be made in memory of Sara to Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation or Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.

Copy the Story Link