Eddy Nicholson

Eddy Gene Nicholson was born on May 2, 1938, the oldest of Doris and Voy Nicholson’s five children. His father worked on the assembly line in a Levi’s jeans factory. Eddy Nicholson graduated in 1960 from what is now the University of Memphis with a business degree and later became a certified public accountant, working his way up to executive positions at a number of firms before arriving at Congoleum in 1975. He became the company’s president and chief operating officer in 1980. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Linda; their children, Kevin, of Beverly, Mass., Steven, of West Lake Village, Calif., and Deidre Cronenbold, of Montecito, Calif.; and four grandchildren, as well as four siblings: Joel, of Osprey, Fla.; Timothy, of Chesterfield, Mo.; Sara Hartshorn, of Contoocook, N.H.; and Jeffrey, of Decatur, Tex.