Susan Kirby (Howard) Nickel, of Kingston, died on April 4 with her devoted daughters by her side. She was 72 years old.

Sue was born in Brockton on March 19, 1941, and was the daughter of the late Channing Winslow and Alma Louise (MacDonald) Howard of Tucson, AZ and Wareham.

Her family moved to Wareham when Sue was in junior high school. She enjoyed many happy years at their beachfront Oak Street home. She graduated from Wareham High School in 1959, and remained in touch with many good friends from her class and childhood.

She enjoyed a short but memorable career as a lab technician at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford and later Hartford Hospital in Hartford, CT.

In 1965, she married then Army Lt. William E. Nickel, with whom she raised two daughters in Glastonbury, CT. Sue worked at Fleet Bank before returning to Massachusetts in 1996.

Sue created a lovely home with an ocean view in Kingston, where she reunited with old friends, made new ones, and hosted family events and holidays. Her daughters, grandson Will, and dear friends brought her laughter and delight when she was well, and also during her long illness.

She is survived by her daughters, Kristen Nickel and her grandson, William Balser, of Marion, and Deborah (Nickel) Hood and her husband Michael of Mansfield and Wareham. She was predeceased by her sister, Deborah McWilliams, of Tucson, Arizona.

She will be loved and missed forever by her girls, and the rest of her family and friends.

A memorial service to honor her life will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, in the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 2599 Cranberry Highway, Wareham. Visiting hours are from 5 to 6 p.m. on Thursday. Friends and community members are welcome to attend.

Donations in Sue’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601. For directions and online guestbook, visit: www.ccgfuneralhome.com.