Jonathan Wallace Nolan

Jonathan Wallace Nolan, 65, of Portland, Maine, died Friday after living for two years with advanced esophageal cancer. He was born in Portland, on November 5, 1948, the son of Herbert Wallace Nolan and Diane Kremm Nolan, and attended Portland public schools, Hyde School and Beloit College during the turbulent 1960s. He left college in his sophomore year and began a life of adventure, working for sail lofts in Portland and Ireland and then crewing for two years on an Ocean 71, Miss Two, during which he made three transatlantic voyages. In 1976 he returned to Maine to work for Hurricane Island Outward Bound School. He served in a number of capacities for ten years at their Hurricane Island base and then as director of the Florida Sea Program in the Florida Keys, making life-long friends who were a source of laughter and support to him through his life. In 1986, he started FineLines Construction with a friend, building and renovating houses in the Portland area, including four on Cushings Island, where he had grown up and his family has gathered for four generations. After a number of years working for Resort Sports Network, where he was able to travel and indulge in his passion for skiing, he took on what he viewed as the best job ever – being a stay-at-home dad to his three small children. Through his activities with his children, he became an energetic and enthusiastic volunteer and advocate for Portland’s Longfellow Elementary and King Middle Schools, where he worked to strengthen their fundraising efforts. At the time of his cancer diagnosis and subsequent retirement, he was King Middle School’s partnership developer. He leaves his wife, Eliza Cope Nolan, his three children, Oliver, Robert and Sophia, his siblings, Amy Nolan Osborn, Victoria Nolan Crolius and Herbert W. Nolan, Jr., and their families, the extended Cope family, and his family of friends. A fund has been established in Jonathan’s memory to benefit King Middle School. Gifts may be made to the “Jonathan Nolan Make Stuff Happen Fund” c/o Michael McCarthy, King Middle School, 92 Deering Avenue, Portland, Maine 04102. A memorial and celebration of Jonathan’s life will occur at King Middle School on Saturday, November 16th at 2 p.m. All are welcome.

Care for Jonathan and his family has been entrusted to the Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home of Portland, ME.