LEWISTON — Mary J. Nichols, 81, of Lewiston passed away late Tuesday, April 12, at Montello Manor, surrounded by her family.

She was born in Farmington on Oct. 31, 1929, as Mary Julia Gordon. As a young lady, she moved to Lewiston with her daughter, Mary Hazel, where she met and married the love of her life, Clarence A. Nichols. They were married on May 26, 1952, and shared their life together until he passed away on Aug. 13, 1979.

Mary worked in housekeeping at Central Maine Medical Center for 10 years. She loved her job and the many people that worked at and visited the hospital. She continued at the hospital after her retirement in 1992 as a volunteer. She worked in the volunteer office at CMMC for 17 years and accumulated over 16,000 volunteer hours. She received many medals, awards and certificates. She was known to many as “Smiley” because of the beautiful smile she had for everyone.

She was a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was baptized on Dec. 18, 1980. She enjoyed going to Sunday service and considered the brothers and sisters of the church family.

She enjoyed traveling, mostly with her daughter. She ventured all over Maine and to many places such as New York, Nova Scotia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. She also enjoyed doing word-search books to pass the time, and going out to eat.

She was very close to her niece, Shirley, and her husband, Darryl Robinson; also, her sister-in-law, Hazel Gordon, who called and visited her often. She also enjoyed many church and social functions and spending time socializing with her good friends, June Maheau and Fred Goldrup.

Most of all, she was very close to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She spent many years cleaning up scraped knees, wiping off sad tears and putting a smile back on our faces. She always had a smile on her face and a kind word for everyone. Anyone who ever met her never forgot her. Every place she went, she ran into people who knew her not only as Mary, but as Nan or Smiley.

She is survived by her daughter, Mary H. Crockett of Lewiston; three grandchildren, Patricia Williams and her fiance, Kevin White, of Auburn, Charles Winslow and wife, Cynthia, of Lewiston, and Mary S. Crockett of Lewiston; six great-grandchildren, Ryan Williams of Auburn, Ashley Cabral and her husband, John, of Lisbon Falls, Amber Turcotte and her fiance, Justin Greenleaf, of Lewiston, Jon-Derek Turcotte of Auburn, Jazmine Leate of Lewiston and Zack Williams of Auburn. She also had two great-great-grandchildren, Jordan and Ava-Marie, of Lisbon Falls.

The family would like to extend a sincere thank-you to Montello Manor and Androscoggin Hospice staff for all their loving kindness during Mary’s last few days.