H. BURKE NICHOLSON, JR.

14 June 1917 – 27 June 2007

Hammond Burke Nicholson, Jr., also recognized in Scotland as the Baron of Balvenie, passed away on 27 June 2007 at the age of 90.  He was a native Atlantan and a pioneer in the Coca–Cola business in Europe, where he lived for many years.  Having served as Chairman of Coca–Cola Europe in London and Senior Vice President of The Coca–Cola Company in Atlanta, he retired in 1974 after thirty–seven years of service.

He started his career in New England in 1937 in the bottling plants of The Coca–Cola Company and was assigned to the Coca–Cola Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1939 and 1940.  During the Second World War, he was accredited by the War Department as a Technical Observer attached to the U.S. Army Forces, South Atlantic.  After World War II he served in executive positions in Amsterdam, Zurich, Paris and Brussels, as well as London, and was for many years a Senior Vice President of The Coca–Cola Export Corporation.

Born June 14, 1917 in Atlanta, the eldest son of the late Hammond Burke Nicholson, former Chairman of The Coca–Cola Company, and the late Lucia Meetze Harman Nicholson, he was educated in Atlanta and Toronto and in England at the London School of Economics (University of London).  He married in 1939 Juliet Duncan, daughter of the late Claude Duncan and Helen Peacock Duncan of Toronto.

Burke had a long record of leadership activity in cultural, educational and community affairs, both in Europe and in the United States.  For service in these fields, he was awarded the Belgian decorations of Knight of the Order of the Crown and Officer of the Order of Leopold II and the Italian decoration of Commander of the Order of Merit.  He also had the unusual distinction of being an Honorary Citizen of Atlanta, his native city, an honor accorded to him in 1957 during his long residence abroad.

Of Scottish ancestry, Burke was active in matters of Scottish heraldry, history and clanship.  As Baron of Balvenie, he was the holder of the ancient Castle of Balvenie in Dufftown, Banffshire.  He was a former High Commissioner for the Americas in the Highland Clan MacNicol, a Counselor to the Clan Chief, and a Trustee of the Clan MacNicol Trust on the Isle of Skye, and in 1997, he also became Chairman of The Highland Clan MacNeacail Federation.  He was Honorary President of the Dufftown Highland Games and a Benefactor of the ancient Mortlach Church there.  He was also a Founder of the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

In Atlanta, Burke served on the Board of the High Museum of Art where he played a leading role in planning and organizing the expansion of the Museum.  He also served on the Boards of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Woodruff Arts Center,  and the Atlanta Council for International Visitors.  Both the Museum and the Symphony elevated him to Life Membership on their respective Boards.  In 1988, he was appointed to the Georgia Indigent Defense Council by the Supreme Court of Georgia and served for ten years.  In 1993 he was made a member and later became Chairman of the Advisory Board of Emory University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences until his retirement in 2003.  He was also a member of the English–Speaking Union Atlanta Branch, a member and longtime Chairman of The Symposium (a philosophical society founded in 1898), a trustee of the Atlanta Preservation Center, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Atlanta International School.

An avid golfer, he was a member of the Peachtree Golf Club, the Piedmont Driving Club and the Capital City Club.  He was a communicant of St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church.

Burke’s wife Juliet passed away on 18 May 2000.  During their sixty–one years of marriage, they had three sons: H. Burke (Nick) Nicholson III, married to Jo Ann; Jeremy Duncan Nicholson, partnered by Andrea di Montegnacco; and Graham Seaford Nicholson, married to Rebecca (Gay).  There are three grandchildren: Mary Juliet, daughter of Nick and Jo Ann; Graham Jr. (Ford) and Grace Ellen, children of Graham and Gay.  All three sons and their families reside in Atlanta.

Burke was the eldest of five brothers and sisters, of whom surviving are Martha Carolyn Nicholson Worley and Charles Beck Harman Nicholson, both of Atlanta.  Deceased are John Hurt Nicholson (Atlanta 1992) and Lucia Harman Nicholson Lines (Toronto, Canada 2000).

Funeral services were held on Monday, 2 July at St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church, with many friends and colleagues in attendance, as well as a full complement of Burke’s extended family - collectively known as the Nicholsons of Atlanta.  Chief John and Jenni MacNeacail of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac greatly honored Burke’s memory by flying over from their home in Australia to attend the funeral.  After the service, a flock of white doves were released and circled the church twice as they flew away.  This unusual and much appreciated gift came from the Canadian Clan Membership and was organized by Jacques McNicoll of Montreal and Michael Nicholson of Ottawa.

Scorrybreac and Jenni then joined the family at a private graveside ceremony by the Nicholson plot at Westview Cemetery.  Scorrybreac in a moving gesture removed his Clan tie and placed it as a tribute on Burke’s coffin, where the three grandchildren had laid one red rose each – emblematic of Balvenie’s annual Baronial due to the sovereign.

Harman Nicholson, Archivist to the Chief and long-standing benefactor to the Clan on three continents, succeeded Burke as owner of Balvenie Castle.

Atlanta, July 2007