Retired Huntington Music Teacher Passes Away
Retired Huntington School District music teacher William Nickerson passed away at 85. He was living in Wevertown, New York. Born in Bangor, Maine, the longtime faculty member resided in Centerport during his teaching career.
"I have such wonderful memories of Bill, having worked with him in the music department in Huntington," Linda Shoemaker, a retired district music teacher and former Blue Devil marching band director, wrote in an online tribute. "He was one of a kind! A fine musician and a teacher who truly loved his kids, he was just so much fun to be around."
Mr. Nickerson had an interesting childhood. His mother passed away while he was a young child and when he was a teenager, his father died in a mill accident. He then went to live with two of his former teachers. After graduating high school in 1945, he served in the US Army.
Mr. Nickerson earned an undergraduate degree at Ithaca College in music education in 1952 and a master's degree at Albany State in 1960. He taught in Moravia for two years and then took a job as a vocal music teacher at a junior high school in Schenectady, New York. While teaching there he sang in the local opera company, directed a church choir and represented Schenectady as a community ambassador to Heerlen, Holland in the summer of 1955.
In 1960, Mr. Nickerson married Janet McClasky. In 1962, the couple traveled to Ethiopia to serve in the Peace Corps. When they returned to America, they moved to Centerport and Mr. Nickerson went to work in the Huntington School District. He taught vocal music at Robert K. Toaz Junior High School and Jefferson and Flower Hill Elementary Schools for 26 years and sang in the Huntington Men's Chorus, directed the Huntington Congregational Church Senior Choir and directed musicals with the Township Theatre Group.
"Mr. Nickerson was my music teacher in the Huntington schools," Flower Hill teacher Claudia Mingin wrote in an online tribute. "He always had a beautiful smile and a kind and caring way with his students. I remember him warmly."
In his free time, Mr. Nickerson loved to sail on his Pearson 30 on the Long Island Sound and was well known by other sailors. Following the music teacher's retirement, the Nickersons relocated to their farmhouse in Upstate Wevertown. Mr. Nickerson became an active member of the Outreach Center, Rotary Club, American Legion and the North Creek Railroad Museum.
Mr. Nickerson's wife of 52 years survives him along with his three children, James, Amy and Kate and their spouses as well as LeeWhay Pasek and four grandchildren.
Donations in Mr. Nickerson's memory may be made to: Hudson Headwaters Health Network or to High Peaks Hospice and Palliative Care.