Beloved Cherokee County physician and community leader Dr. William Hilton Nichols, Jr., 89, of Canton, died Sunday, July 12, 2015.
Funeral services will be held at Canton First United Methodist Church Monday, July 20, at 12 p.m. Interment will follow at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, with full military honors.
Dr. Nichols served as family physician for generations of Cherokee County families. He located his general medical practice to Canton in 1952 after graduating from Emory at Oxford College and the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. While at Emory at Oxford he turned down an offer to play professional baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals, choosing to go to medical school instead.
He also served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Dr. Nichols was a leader in founding R.T. Jones Memorial Hospital in 1962, the county's first public hospital, which still operates as Northside Hospital Cherokee. He was a founding member and served many years on the Cherokee County Hospital Authority.
He was a long-time director of the Bank of Canton, instrumental in starting the Cherokee County Development Authority, member of the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce and on the board of directors of Kennesaw College.
Dr. Nichols helped found the Canton Kiwanis Club and organize the Key Club, Circle K Club and the Pony League ball teams. He was a director for the Canton Golf Club, the Cherokee American Cancer Society and a member of the Canton First United Methodist Church.
He was a member of the Physicians Recruiting Committee, the Cherokee County Board of Health, and the Georgia Board of Medical Examiners, and worked with Emory University to establish a coronary care unit at the local hospital.
In 1986 he was chosen as the First Citizen of Cherokee County by the Chamber of Commerce for his lifetime commitment to the community.
Survivors include daughter and son-in-law Diane and Jim Yarbrough, daughter Linda Hasty and daughter and son-in-law Cheryl and Marvin Ellis, all of Canton, and daughter and son-in-law Janis and Scott Farr of Woodstock.
Grandchildren surviving are Alysia Watt Ryan; Will Hasty and wife Anna; Lauren Hasty and husband Josselin De Tonquedec; Nick Hasty and wife Nancy Garcia; Hunter Farr; Jake Farr and Ashley Farr. Great-grandchildren include Collin Lane Ryan, Kaitlyn Kelly Ryan, Eryn Hasty, Cole Hasty, Jayelyn Farr and Eugenie Hasty- De Tonquedec.
Dr. Nichols was preceded in death by his wife Martha Lacey Nichols, who he married in 1946.
Visitation for Dr. Nichols will be Sunday, July 19, from 1 to 6 p.m. and Monday, July 20, from 10 to 11 a.m. at Darby Funeral Home in Canton.
Rev. Jim McRae, Rev. Marvin Ellis, Rev. C.R. Hill, and Rev. Charles Davis will be officiating. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to First United Methodist Church of Canton building fund or to a favorite charity.