Byron B. Nichols, formerly of Augusta and Boothbay Harbor, died in Ft. Myers, Florida on Nov. 4, 2016. He was 96.

Byron was born in Gardiner, Maine in 1920, one of four children born to G.H. Nichols and the former Lila May Paddock. He graduated from Gardiner High School in 1937 and married Isabelle d’Auteuil of Augusta in 1941.

After serving in the U.S. Army (Air Corp Flight Training) from 1943-45, he began a life-long career with the Maine State Liquor Commission. He began as a part-time clerk in 1945 and retired in 1976 as director of stores for the entire state.

He received his real estate license in 1971 and later became a broker and started the Nichols Real Estate Agency in Augusta. Byron and Isabelle moved to Barters Island in Boothbay in 1976 and he continued to sell real estate until 2000.

He was issued his first lobster license on April 29, 1976 and continued lobstering as a hobby until 1997.

Beginning in 1976, the couple spent their winter months in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida, where Byron enjoyed a 30-year relationship as a part-time employee of the Ft. Myers Beach Golf Club. He often remarked that lobstering in Maine all summer and playing golf all winter in Florida was his idea of a perfect retirement.

He was a life member of the Knights of Columbus receiving Third and Fourth Degrees. During his years with the organization in Augusta, he was part of a group of volunteers who are credited with fundraising efforts that resulted in a new Knights of Columbus home built on Riverside Drive and with the construction of St. Mary’s School on Western Avenue.

He was a corporator and later an honorary corporator of Kennebec Savings Bank in Augusta for more than 25 years.

His community work in Boothbay is also notable. As a member of the Boothbay Civic Association, he was a lead volunteer in the five-year effort to purchase land and construct the Boothbay Town Hall, which was completed in 1993.

Byron was predeceased by his wife Isabelle who died in 2001.

Survivors include four children: Jeff Nichols of Ellijay, Georgia, Jim Nichols of Augusta, Maine, Janis Nichols of Portland, Oregon and John Nichols of Oquossoc, Maine. He is also survived by six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A private family ceremony will be held at the Maine Veterans Cemetery in Augusta.