Heritage Snapshot: Part 128

Hall, on the campus of Loma Linda University, the former Loma Linda Sanitarium and Hospital on the hill, is today the home of the Loma Linda University Schools of Allied Health Professions and Public Health. Francis D. Nichol was born February 14, 1897, in Thirlmere, New South Wales, Australia. He was perhaps best known as the editor of The Review and Herald, the official organ of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. His initials, FDN, became a hallmark, appearing at the end of his editorials. They assured readers of high quality in content and style. In 1905, when he was only eight years old, Nichol moved to Loma Linda from Australia when his father joined the original staff of the first Loma Linda Sanitarium, as an electrician for $12 a week. When his parents, John and Mary Nichol, became charter members of the first Seventh-day Adventist congregation in Loma Linda in January 1906, he was too young to join. His parents called Francis “Sonny Boy.” His mother believed that his “sunny disposition” resulted from the fact that she dedicated him to the Lord before he was born. Francis became self-disciplined and was known for his even temperament, enormous vocabulary, desire to succeed, and quick wit. John Burden, the Sanitarium business manager, gave him some responsibilities to help weed the institution’s big garden and later to help care for its stable of well-kept horses and shiny buggies and carriages. FDN was introduced to Loma Linda co-founder Mrs. Ellen G. White when she became a patient at the Loma Linda Sanitarium. From time to time she needed to be pushed in her wheelchair from place to place. With his two strong, willing little arms, Francis relished the task. As a child, Francis helped his father as an electrician’s helper where he learned his father’s standards of perfection. Everything had to be exactly right—without compromise. “Good enough” was not part of John’s vocabulary. FDN’s parents wisely placed a large dictionary on a table in their home. During the day Francis carried a pencil and paper to jot down words he did not understand. That evening he would look up the words, and in so doing, laid the groundwork for a phenomenal vocabulary. Francis graduated from San Fernando Academy in 1914, where he had received good grades and scholastic honors. He graduated from Pacific Union College in 1920 with a Bachelor of Theology Degree, and started his pastoral/evangelistic work in California. He was ordained to the ministry in 1923. On May 22, 1958, FDN received the first honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the SDA Theological Seminary at Potomac University. With modesty, FDN consistently discouraged people from addressing him or introducing him as Doctor, although he had every right to the title. He never discouraged higher education and had strong criticism for those who would: “There have been those among us, who, because of intellectual sloth or lack of willingness to sacrifice, have felt no need of higher schools among us. As if the evils of secular, godless education could be met by ignorance and illiteracy. God gave us heads, and He intended that we should use them. I believe that higher education may be sanctified to the Glory of God.” His biographer, Kenneth H. Wood, described FDN as one who gave to the needs within the church and who lightened individual’s burdens: “His fiscal philosophy was that money is a sacred trust, not to be used selfishly but to benefit others. With the same type of thrift that characterized the pioneers of the Advent Movement, he lived frugally and unostentatiously in order to advance the cause. His life was a silent condemnation of the luxury and gadgetry of the affluent society…. Elder Nichol was an extremely complex man, with many facets to his character. He had a keen sense of humor, and always had an appropriate story for every occasion, yet he had a dominantly serious side. He had a brilliant intellect, yet he did not retreat into the world of the mind; he was very much a part of the world about him. “FDN had a broad familiarity with literature and classical music. His vocabulary was so extensive that his staff referred to him as a human dictionary. In response they studied dictionaries to try to find and use words he wouldn’t know. When they succeeded they considered it to be an ego-building achievement. On one occasion his response completely ruined any shred of superiority complex: ‘Your manuscript is ready to go down to the typesetters. I can visualize them pressing around the linotype to learn the latest of your peregrinations.’ “FDN also had a tender heart, especially for little children. Just weeks before his death, as he walked to his office, he noticed that the crossing guard where many students from the nearby John Nevins Andrews elementary church school crossed Carroll Avenue [in Takoma Park, MD] had been unaccountably delayed. Without hesitation he started directing traffic at the busy intersection and helping the small students across the street. When a General Conference friend commented to him later in the day about his thoughtful response, he stated, ‘I suppose it sounds foolish and sentimental, but I get great pleasure from helping little children.’”