Bertha May Nicholson

Bertha May Pearson Nicholson died peacefully on March 20th, 2025 at Crosslands, in Kennett Square PA, where she had resided for 32 years. She was 98 years old and lived a wonderful life. She received excellent loving care at Crosslands during the final years of her life.

Bertha May and her husband and family lived for many years at Westtown School in West Chester PA and were important members of that community. She enjoyed her summers at Flying Moose Lodge in East Orland Maine, where her husband was the assistant director, and where her sons actively participated in the camp’s programs.

She is survived by two sons, James Nicholson and David Nicholson, and twelve grandchildren. She is predeceased by her beloved husband of 60 years, John Edgar Nicholson, her sister Esther Pearson Simon, her infant son Allen Frances Nicholson and her son John Talbot Nicholson. She was the last of a truly wonderful generation of aunts and uncles from the Nicholson, Terrell, and Simon families.

Bertha May graduated from Oakwood School in New York and received her bachelor’s degree from Earlham College in Richmond Indiana.

She was a skilled and dedicated homemaker who cherished all members of her family (her grandparents, parents, sister, and descendants) and deeply loved her extended family (including many sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, other in-laws, nieces, nephews and various cousins).

Her love and dedication to her family is one of her greatest legacies. She was extremely caring, wise, and nonjudgmental. She was masterful at really listening and validating those who needed to be heard. She was always so glad to see her loved ones and was truly interested in their lives. She cared about people and what they were doing - when people talked with her, they felt held and seen.  

As a young girl Bertha May lived on a farm and had a special affinity for goats. Later in her life she became interested in the Heifer International Foundation. Heifer International works donating farm animals as a way of creating a pathway out of poverty for those in need around the world. She consistently gave to this charity and encouraged others to do so.

She enjoyed playing the violin, taught music lessons involving a variety of instruments and was a highly skilled poet. She was a fine cook and enjoyed making wonderful family dinners (including those wonderful family reunion dinners). She also enjoyed sewing, knitting and rug-making, and provided many people with gifts of her fine handiwork. 

Bertha May was not one to complain or gossip and rarely had a negative word to say. Rather, she would prefer to gently reframe and find the positives. She had a strong desire for harmony and helped to create it.

Bertha May was a lifelong member of the Religious Society of Friends. She was a serious student of religion and had a true interest and curiosity about all religions – her library was diverse and eclectic. In keeping with her deep Quaker faith, she lived a life that was both guided and energized by her relationship with God. In retrospect, she lived a wonderful life that was “in this world, but not of this world”.

A memorial service for Bertha May will be held at Media Friends Meeting, 125 W 3rd St, Media PA, on Saturday, October 18, at 11AM, with lunch to follow. 

To attend the service via ZOOM please go to:https://mediafriendsmeeting.org/zoom

or use this link: https://zoom.us/j/5075644536?pwd=UzVFYm9peHNhMHo0cHVjSTZpT0dvdz09

To view her online tribute and to share a memory with her family, please visit www.kuzoandfoulkfh.com. Arrangements by Kuzo Funeral Home of Kennett Square, PA.