Sheila Nickerson

Sheila Bunker Nickerson passed away at her home in Bellingham, Washington, on September 27, 2026.

Born in New York City on April 14, 1942, to Charles and Mavis Bunker, Sheila attended the Chapin School and Bryn Mawr College before earning her Ph.D. from the Union Institute.

A prolific and celebrated writer, Sheila published 17 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, including Disappearance: A Map: A Meditation on Death and Life in the High Latitudes. She was Poet Laureate of Alaska from 1977 to 1981 and a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize for poetry. Her writing reflected her enduring fascination with the natural world, the wilderness, and Arctic exploration.

She also shared her love of writing as Writer-in-Residence for the Artists in Schools Program and the Alaska State Library and as a founder of University Within Walls, an innovative educational system for the incarcerated throughout Alaska.

Sheila was an exceptionally kind and compassionate person who saw the best in everyone. She had a wry sense of humor and will be greatly missed by all who were close to her.

Sheila was preceded in death by her husband, Martinus Nickerson, and her brother, Sheffield Bunker. Her surviving family includes her children, Helen, Thomas, and Samuel; her grandchildren, India, Storm, Anna, Peter, Nina, Kira, and Bode; her great-granddaughters, Gisele and Griffin; and her sister, Mavis Taintor.

A memorial service celebrating Sheila’s life will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Westford Funeral Home (1301 Broadway, Bellingham, Washington). In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to The Nature Conservancy.