Mary "Polly" Jordan Nichols

Mary "Polly" Jordan Nichols, 82, retired Director of Development at Harpeth Hall School and resident of Brentwood, died peacefully Wednesday, May 24, 2017, at Alive Hospice in Nashville. A service to celebrate her life will be conducted Saturday at 2:00 P.M. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Franklin. Burial will follow in St. John's Churchyard, Ashwood. The family will visit with friends Saturday from 12:30 - 2:00 P.M. at the church. Oakes & Nichols Funeral Directors are assisting the family with arrangements.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts may be made to the Stephen Frost Nichols Garden and Campus Preservation Fund, The Harpeth Hall School, 3801 Hobbs Road, Nashville, TN 37215; St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 510 W. Main Street, Franklin, TN 37064, or St. John's- Ashwood Endowment Fund, c/o St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 311 West Seventh Avenue, Columbia, TN 38401. Born January 18, 1935, in Davidson County, she was the daughter of the late Hal R. Jordan and the late Mary Lipscomb Jordan. Polly attended The Ward-Belmont School and was a member of the second graduating class of The Harpeth Hall School (1953). After graduating from Radcliffe College, she was married and lived in New Haven, CT, Westwood, CA, Madison, WI, Hanover, NH and Aix-en Provence, France. In 1971, she returned to Nashville with her two small children, Stephen and Sarah, and soon began her career in Advancement at her alma mater, The Harpeth Hall School, serving as Director of Alumnae, and later as the School's first Director of Development and Planned Giving. She retired after 27 years. In 1986, The Harpeth Hall School honored her with The Dede Bullard Wallace Award for Outstanding Service to the School. She is survived by her daughter, The Reverend Sarah W. Nichols, Pasadena, CA., her two nephews, Dr. Hal J. Minnigan, Indianapolis, IN, and David W. Minnigan (Lisa), Brentwood, TN, her brother-in-law, Don Minnigan, and four great nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her son, Stephen Frost Nichols, and her sister, Sarah (Sally) J. Minnigan.Active pallbearers will be Dr. Hal J. Minnigan, David W. Minnigan, Bradley M. Minnigan, Ryan W. Minnigan, Henry Z. Lipscomb IV, Owen R. Lipscomb and Hal G. Cato.Honorary Pallbearers include Elana B. Anderson, Mary S. Stumb, Margaret C. Groos, Marilyn N. McAlister, Britton H. Nielsen, Sallie K. Norton, Margie F. Martin, Rosemary S. Paschall, Donna S. Montague, Ann Teaff, Richard Donald Minnigan, Henry Z. Lipscomb III, William Wade Lipscomb, Francis E. Carter III, David E. Wood, Bobby McAlpine, William B. Hayward, Ming Wang MD, James P. Caldwell and the Directors, Officers, and Employees of H. G. Lipscomb and Co.