Dr John H.    Nickerson

Dr John H. Nickerson, 94, a former Stamford resident and resident of Newtown, died on August 6 at Danbury Hospital due to natural causes.

Born in Brandon, Vt., on July 11, 1910, he was the son of the late Thomas and Alice (Cooley) Nickerson.

John Nickerson moved to Orwell, Vt., at age 2. His family had lived in Addison Country where Orwell is located for many generations. His father was a registered Holstein dairy farmer and horse trainer. John went to Ohio State University ten years after graduating from high school to become a veterinarian.

During those ten years he ran the family farm with his brother Russell and met and married Lea Franceschi, a schoolteacher in Orwell. He also ran a riding stable for summer camps in Schroon Lake, N.Y.

After graduating in 1943 he passed the state exams in Virginia, Kentucky, Connecticut, and Vermont to practice veterinary medicine. He first settled in Kentucky, a horse-breeding center for racing thoroughbreds. He later moved to Roanoke, Va., to manage a large animal practice, which serviced both farms and stockyards and supplied food to the troops in World War II. He then moved to Mt Vernon, N.Y., for a short stay before finally settling in Stamford in 1946.

He established an animal hospital in Bulls Head and several years later a hospital at the Greenwich-Stamford line on Post Road.

But his love of horses and other large animals motivated him to also maintain a large animal practice in Fairfield County. In the mid 1940s there were three dairy farms in Stamford. He serviced them, in addition to the animals at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Oxford Hunt Club in Darien, the Den Road stable, and numerous horses of private owners.

He retired in 1992 after 49 years as a veterinarian. He was a member of the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association, and past president of the Fairfield County chapter, and other veterinary groups. He was also past president of the Stamford Exchange Club.

He is survived by his two sons, John, Jr, of Newtown and his wife Joan, and Gary Nickerson of Brighton, Mich., and his wife Jennifer. He is also survived by five grandchildren, TJ, John, Barbara, GT, and Lindsey; and four great-grandchildren, Farah Nickerson and James, Josh, and Molly Nickerson-Reiss.

Dr Nickerson’s wife, Lee, died in 1996, and his only brother, Russell, was killed in a farm accident in 1963.

Services were held August 10. Burial followed at Fairfield Memorial Park Cemetery.

Contributions in his memory can be made to Interlude Inc, 60 West Street, Danbury CT 06810.

The Leo P. Gallagher Funeral Home, 2900 Summer Street, Stamford, was in charge of arrangements.

The Newtown Bee        August 13, 2004