Maxine M. Nicely

Maxine M. Nicely (“Mickey”) passed away on September 16, 2013. She was born in Painesville, Ohio, where she enjoyed sailing on Lake Erie with her father in boats that her father manufactured. Graduating from Harvey High School in 1948, she was elected homecoming queen after holding many student council and club offices. She received her B.A. in Education from Baldwin Wallace University and drove across the country to take her first teaching job out west. After marrying and living in California, she developed a love of the ocean and settled in Laguna Beach, where she taught second grade at El Morro Elementary, the school her daughters attended. While at El Morro, she completed her M.A. in Education (Pepperdine University). When she retired and moved to Dana Point, her range of activities and number of friends only grew broader. In addition to taking art and film classes, she traveled through several continents, boating down rivers in China, climbing the steps at Machu Picchu, and riding zip lines in Costa Rica. She continued to enjoy spending time with children, volunteering at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. Her grandsons were frequent companions, whether visiting state parks, doing homework, or trick-or-treating, and she sponsored sailing classes for them every summer.
Mickey formed lifelong friends at every point and will be missed by many. She is survived by her brother Raymond McLeod, her daughters Pamela Nicely and Bettina Nicely Johnson, her sons-in-law David Rovin and Hans Johnson, and her four grandsons: Ellis and Mason Rovin, and Alex and Blake Johnson.