Robert Nick was a man of the tundra — the place where he was raised, where he lived most of his life, and where he was laid to rest this week near his home village of Nunapitchuk. He died last month at the age of 84.
His memorial service was held on June 1 at St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Anchorage — a fitting tribute for a man who loved the rich harmonies of Slavonic choral music. Nick was known to share recordings of his favorite hymns with friends and fellow singers.
A life that spanned generations of change
Those who gathered to honor him reflected on a lifetime of public service that touched many aspects of life in Southwest Alaska.
Nick was remembered for his role in founding the Calista Native Corporation and serving as one of its first board members.
For Calista president Andrew Guy, Nick’s passing represents the end of an era.
“He’s part of that group that came from having no electricity, no outboard, to where we are today,” Guy said.
Nick helped bring electricity to villages throughout Southwest Alaska through his work with the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, another organization he helped found. He also ran a store in Nunapitchuk, a village on the Kuskokwim River near Bethel, and was among the first to recognize that his community could no longer exist apart from the rest of the world.
The store, which his father started, had a reputation for offering good prices for furs, which were traded to companies in Seattle. By the time Nick took over the business, the store had already moved beyond carrying staples like sugar and flour but also sold boats, motors, snow machines and lumber.
Rooted in values of service and community
Richard Jung, who owned Jung’s Trading Post in the neighboring village of Napakiak, recalled a trip he took with Nick years ago on a Caribbean cruise, awarded by a snowmachine company to dealers with outstanding sales. Jung remembered how Nick helped another villager, who didn’t know a passport was required for travel, find a way around the problem. “He was just a fine person,” Jung said, adding that he believed Nick’s leadership skills were rooted in the values he was raised in.
“One of the things you’re taught is to help people. You try to do what you can for your village and your region,” Jung said. “And he was one of those guys that did that. He knew that he could get things done."
Robert Nick credited the education he received at the Mt. Edgecumbe boarding school in Sitka as a turning point in his life. He was proud to be the first in his family to receive a Western education and graduate from high school far away from home. That achievement became a foundation for decades of service on boards and commissions that focused on a wide range of causes: health, education, housing, economic development, job training and protecting the Yup’ik subsistence way of life.
His niece, Karen Cooke Phillips, says he was tireless.
“Attending meetings, after meetings, for days and hours, and for continued years,” she said.
But despite the constant demands of his public service, Phillips said, his home was filled with love, a reflection of his early life. She believes his dedication was driven by a desire to make life easier for his children and grandchildren.
Family first: A father figure to many
Nick was the eldest of nine children. After his father died in 1977, Nick took over the family store. He also helped to provide for his younger brothers and sisters — an experience Phillips says, that shaped his lifelong role as a father figure — not just within his family but across the region.
“He has been in those arenas, leading in lots of different organizations and providing a voice for people from our region, or the lifestyle of the people of our region,” Phillips said. Nick rarely sought the spotlight but worked behind the scenes in statewide and local politics. He served as campaign chairman for numerous candidates, a role that gave him the ear of many leaders.
A champion for housing and education
Nick had two twin passions, housing and education. He dedicated many years of his life to improving housing conditions in rural Alaska though his work on the Association of Village Council Presidents Regional Housing Authority. Eventually, he became a national advocate for federal Indian housing programs and brought attention to the Third World conditions in Alaska villages.
He also served two decades on the Lower Kuskokwim School District board and was its longtime chairman.
Steve O’Brien, a former school principal, remembers the first LKSD meeting Nick chaired and his humble approach.
“Every time an issue came up, Robert would turn to the superintendent, or to her assistant, and say, ‘Now what’s the protocol for doing this? How do I do this?” O’Brien recalled. “Do we need a motion for doing this?’ And he kept asking all these procedural questions.”
Afterward, O’Brien gave Nick a copy of Roberts Rules of Order.
“And he laughed, and he said, ‘Oh, I already have that book,” O’Brien said. “And he reached behind from the bookshelf, and he pulled down this very worn and earmarked copy of Robert’s Rules with sticky pages and stuff. He was an expert about this stuff.”
An influential voice
"Robert was a rare one," Susan Murphy said. "He didn't just sit there and vote, he always did his research.”
She said his level of commitment moved him into the statewide arena for education, where he served on the Alaska Association of School Boards and also chaired its meetings.
Over the years, Murphy teased Nick about all the different boards he served on. But she also knew why so many organizations wanted to tap his talents. At a time when the region was changing — when communities were navigating new connections to the outside world — he was a trusted guide.
"He could really move in both worlds pretty easily," Murphy said. "He knew the meaning of the words that were used in both English and Yugtun.”
Few people have that kind of fluency in both languages, Murphy said, even today.
"Robert also had the ability to see both sides of an issue," Murphy said, "and although he didn't always agree with people, he understood how they arrived at their position."
Nick’s commitment to education never wavered. He leaves behind family members who have graduated from prestigious universities, achieving success he had long believed education could create.
In 2014 Nick received an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In 2017, he was named Citizen of the Year at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention.
In many ways, Nick was also a Yup’ik scholar. For years, he wrote a column for the regional newspaper, the Delta Discovery. His pieces ran the gamut. He wrote about politics, subsistence hunting and gathering, and personal memories. Publisher Greg Lincoln said he was one of the few contributors able to pen columns in both English and Yugtun.
Like the choir that bid Robert Nick farewell, the music at his memorial echoed the harmony he sought in life. The service was followed by a feast of subsistence foods — plates heaped with dried salmon and bowls filled with moose, walrus and seal meat stew — dishes he loved to share with others.
His younger sister, Marie Meade, remembered his generosity: “He was my provider. He always made sure I had enough.”
One who lives on
At the gathering, Meade was introduced to Ruth, a new baby grandniece, born just hours after Nick passed. Although Robert did not live to meet his great granddaughter, they will always have a connection.
“My brother was crossing into the next world, when her mother went into the delivery room,” Meade said. “It was very powerful and emotional. I was seeing the baby for first time right there.”
Moments after the birth, Ruth was given a variant of Nick’s Yup’ik name, “Yuukaq," which means “one who lives on.”
In the Yup’ik naming tradition, babies born after the passing of a family member — or someone in the community — often receive that person’s name, so they carry forward the spirit or essence of the one who came before them.
“They were just hours apart in coming and leaving. Here is the baby that’s going to carry his name forward,” Meade said. “From now on, I will address her as my brother.”
A tiny baby, who carries a name and a legacy that lives on.
