In Memoriam

George Leslie Nicklin, Jr. MD

George Leslie Nicklin, Jr. MD

George Nicklin, Quaker psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and educator, who helped to found numerous educational and professional institutions, including Friends World College, the Westbury Friends School, and the Long Island Psychoanalytic Institute, died June 26 in Medford, NJ. He was 81. Dr. Nicklin lived with his family for 31 years on Butler Place in Garden City.

His death, resulting from a stroke, was confirmed by his wife of 57 years, Kate Nicklin.

Dr. Nicklin was known for his capacity to envision and energetically implement innovative programs to meet needs that he encountered in his personal and professional communities. From the establishment of a program of swimming lessons for children in the community on Shelter Island where he summered with his family for 50 years, to the creation of the Friends World College experiential education program with campuses on five continents, Dr. Nicklin brought his creative vision and his energy to hundreds of worthwhile projects, large and small, throughout his life.

George Leslie Nicklin, Jr. was born in 1925 in Franklin, Pennsylvania. He was the only surviving child of George Leslie Nicklin, an oil industry engineer, and Emma Reed Nicklin, a teacher. His family relocated to the town of Haverford, in the Philadelphia suburbs, when the oil industry in Western Pennsylvania declined during the Depression, and he graduated from Haverford High School in 1943. After a single term at Haverford College, he was drafted and qualified for the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP). When the end of WWII appeared imminent, the ASTP was discontinued and he was given a regular infantry assignment, serving in the Ninth Infantry Division (Old Reliables), initially as a mortar gunner, and later as a medic.

After fighting for several months in Germany and through the Battle of the Bulge, Dr. Nicklin was severely wounded in the Second Battle of the Rhineland while performing his duties as a medic. He spent 100 days in a British military hospital, followed by a year in a VA hospital on Staten Island, NY. He was awarded two bronze stars for meritorious service, in addition to his purple hearts. Dr. Nicklin's experience of surviving severe injury and carrying 55 pieces of shrapnel throughout his body for the remainder of his life helped to form one of the key tenets of his life philosophy: that adversity is an opportunity for personal growth.

Upon his return to civilian life, Dr. Nicklin completed his undergraduate degree at Haverford College in 1947. He then pursued his lifelong ambition to become a physician, graduating from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1951. Dr. Nicklin pursued a two-year rotating internship in medicine and surgery at The Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, in Cooperstown, N.Y. Subsequently, he completed a residency in psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, followed by psychoanalytic training and certification as a Fellow of the William Alanson White Institute. Dr. Nicklin maintained his professional relationship with Bellevue Hospital and as Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at New York University through the remainder of his life.

Dr. Nicklin's professional life was defined by his wish to use his skills and energy to help others find joy and success in their lives and relationships. He established a private practice in psychiatry and psychoanalysis in Manhattan and in Garden City, on Long Island, through which he assisted thousands of patients until he retired from active practice in 2004. Dr. Nicklin's wish to be of service to colleagues and patients on Long Island led him to form the Long Island Psychoanalytic Institute in affiliation with the Nassau County Medical Center. For many years, while also teaching as clinical professor at New York University, Dr. Nicklin worked with the Institute to support the training of residents, psychologists, and other mental health professionals on Long Island. He was honored, in May, 2005, by the American Psychiatric Association for 50 years of distinguished service.

In addition to his professional pursuits, Dr. Nicklin was active in his religious community. Having entered military service as an agnostic, Dr. Nicklin had a mystical spiritual experience during battle, which led him later to become a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). He met his future wife, Katherine Aronson, on a bicycle trip to Martha's Vineyard, and they were married in 1950 under the care of Fifteenth Street Friends' Meeting in New York City. As members of Westbury Friends Meeting on Long Island, George and Kate Nicklin were instrumental in founding the Westbury Friends School, which their four young children then attended. In 1958, Dr. Nicklin became interested in creating a college program that would address the increasing globalization of every aspect of modern life, while incorporating the Quaker ideal of valuing "that of God" in every individual. Friends World College, which used an educational model that combined practical experience with personal reflection, set up campuses on five continents where students pursued internship-like work and study experiences under the guidance of faculty members. Dr. Nicklin served as a trustee and advocate for the College from its founding until it was absorbed under the umbrella of Long Island University as the "Friends World Program."

Dr. Nicklin and his family began spending summer vacations on Shelter Island in 1957. In 1963 they built a house on the beach there, where he and his wife spent summers with their children and, later, grandchildren. Dr. Nicklin believed there should be a Quaker Meeting on the island, particularly since there is a history of a Quaker presence on Shelter Island dating back to the days of the founding of the Society of Friends. He obtained permission for a Friends Meeting to be held by the Quaker cemetery there, and Shelter Island Friends Meeting continues to meet weekly in those woods during the summer months, and in the Shelter Island Historical Society Havens House during the winter.

Dr. Nicklin retired from active practice in 2004. In recent years, Dr. Nicklin published two books, Doctors in Peril, based on the experiences of physicians facing life-threatening circumstances, and War Stories, a collection of reminiscences from World War II veterans. Since his retirement, Dr. Nicklin and his wife have divided their time between their home on Shelter Island and a Quaker retirement community, Medford Leas, in southern New Jersey. After decades of robust good health, in the final six months of his life Dr. Nicklin was assailed by a series of severe and debilitating illnesses, which he faced with valor and grace. Dr. Nicklin rejoiced particularly in the love and support of his lively extended family. He is survived by his wife, Kate Nicklin of Shelter Island and Medford, NJ, four children, Emily Nicklin of Chicago, David Nicklin, MD, of Philadelphia, Jane Nicklin Olsen, of Ridgefield, CT, and Sarah Nicklin, MD, of Zionsville, PA., and twelve grandchildren, Max, Luke, and Anna Schleusener, Kate, Megan, and Sarafina Kietzman-Nicklin, Emma, Molly, and Elizabeth Olsen, and Graham, Clara, and Olivia Moreno.

A memorial service for George Nicklin will be held at 1 PM on Thursday, July 12, 2007, at Purchase Friends Meeting, Purchase and Lake Streets, Purchase NY. Contributions in his memory would be welcomed by Westbury Friends School, 550 Post Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590.