Tangier Island's doctor dies

Dr. David B. Nichols, the White Stone physician who felt a calling to serve the residents of Tangier Island and gained national attention for tending to their medical needs for 31 years, died Thursday. He was 62.

Dr. Nichols, who was treated for melanoma of the eye six years ago, had been diagnosed with inoperable, metastasized cancer in July, only weeks before the grand opening of the island's long-awaited new health center. It was named in his honor.

He died at home with his family by his side. His wife, Dianne, told friends it was fitting "for David to leave us early on a Thursday because that is when he always left for Tangier."

Dr. Nichols was highlighted Tuesday in a Richmond Times-Dispatch Faces of 2010 profile.

Of his death, Gov. Bob McDonnell said: "Dr. Nichols selflessly continued to treat the sick while he was fighting his own health battle. Tangier Island today not only lost a great doctor, but also lost an important family member. It is my hope that all Virginians pause to reflect on the good deeds performed by Dr. Nichols for 30 years and embrace the true spirit of giving that he embraced during his 62 years."

Dr. Nichols began traveling to Tangier on a weekly basis, usually on Thursdays, in 1979 from his home in White Stone, where he operated a medical practice. He said his work on Tangier — usually done on his day off — combined two of his passions: practicing an old-time, country doctor-style of medicine on an island that had no resident physician, and flying. Dr. Nichols typically piloted a single-engine plane or helicopter to Tangier. When the weather was too unsafe, he often took a small boat across the Chesapeake Bay.

"You saved up your aches and pains until Thursday," said patient and lifelong Tangier resident Norma Dize with a laugh. "It's true. You'd wait for him.

"He's just been a wonderful doctor and a friend," Dize said in an interview in early December. "He loves us. Just look at what he's done for us."

The Canadian-born Dr. Nichols set up his medical practice in White Stone in the late 1970s, in large part because his parents had retired to the Northern Neck. He visited Tangier on a family outing and felt an immediate affection for the island and its people.

"When I first came here, I thought I was stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting," he said during an interview this year. "They're wonderful people, truly unique people. I just feel really blessed to have bumped into them."

He described the island as "a little paradise," and declared: "When you're on Tangier, you're a little closer to heaven."

Tangier, known for its watermen and the Old English dialect spoken by its people, is a close-knit community that is not known for easily embracing outsiders. However, Dr. Nichols, through his caring and commitment, became family to many of his patients. He joked that some patients had dubbed him David Nichols Parks — Parks being one of the prominent surnames on the island of just over 500 residents.

He made house calls and was known for spending considerable time with patients, often meaning he saw patients until dark. Sometimes residents would illuminate the island's unlighted airstrip with the headlights of their golf carts so he could take off for home. He said he lost money every year on the Tangier portion of his practice.

He was known as a determined diagnostician. The gentle, soft-spoken man could become "a bulldog" when it came to figuring out what was ailing his patients, said Tangierman Denny Crockett.

"He saved my life," said Crockett, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer and treated successfully after Dr. Nichols insisted on follow-up tests even when a specialist didn't see the need. "He won't give up until he finds out what's going on."

Dr. Nichols was greeted with hugs everywhere he went on Tangier. In recent months, the embraces lasted longer and often were accompanied by tears. In November, on one of his last visits to the island, he stopped for lunch at Lorraine's Sandwich Shop. Owner Lorraine Marshall had heard he was coming and prepared one of his favorites: homemade chicken noodle soup.

"It's the best soup you'll ever have," a smiling and appreciative Dr. Nichols told his companions.

One of Dr. Nichols' lasting legacies is Inez Pruitt, a high school dropout who first started working in the clinic as an office assistant and, with the encouragement of Dr. Nichols, later returned to school and became a physician assistant. She now provides medical care on a daily basis at another of his legacies, the David B. Nichols Health Center.

The dedication of the modern, well-equipped facility in August attracted Virginia's governor and other dignitaries. Hundreds gathered to honor Dr. Nichols in sweltering heat in what was described as one of the biggest events in island history. A national organization proclaimed him "Country Doctor of the Decade."

"David's greatest legacy was his ability to inspire others to want to join in his vision," said Jimmie Carter, his friend and patient who spearheaded the fundraising for the new health center and the development of the Tangier Island Health Foundation. "From conception to completion, the Tangier Clinic was built around the example David set in his dedication to the island."

In addition to his wife, Dr. Nichols is survived by a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Davy, who followed in his father's footsteps as a pilot.

Abiding by Dr. Nichols' wishes, a private family service will be held. The family said a public celebration of Dr. Nichols' life will be held in the spring. Dr. Nichols said in an interview in August that he wanted to be buried on Tangier, in the cemetery next to the health center.

wlohmann@timesdispatch.com

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