Michelle Nicole Cribbins of Toronto, ON and Nantucket, MA passed away on March 2, 2023, after a sixteen-month battle with a rare and aggressive Lymphoma. 

Nicole was born on June 30, 1976 in Roanoke, VA to Denise and Jimmy Williamson. From a young age, Nicole was confident, strong-willed, and charismatic. She had an infectious smile, which was part of her fabric and always present.  

Growing up, she excelled in school and sports. She loved riding motorcycles on the mountain behind her house. She cherished going to Myrtle Beach every year with her parents, brother, and her grandparents, “Nana and Baba”.  

Nicole poured her heart into everything she did. She was active in student government, vice-president of her class, captain of the cheerleading team, and was named Highlander of the Year when she graduated from Glenvar High School in 1994.  

As a lifelong “Hokie”, Nicole studied Psychology at Virginia Tech, with a minor in French. After she graduated in 1997, she went on to complete a Masters in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2001.   

Nicole had a successful career in Human Resources at General Electric (GE) in offices all over the world. When she left GE, she was responsible globally for human resources for the tax, legal, business development, and environmental health and safety functions.  

It was at GE, in 2001, that Nicole met her husband Matt. They fell in love and started their magical journey together. This journey included the birth of two children, Harrison and Kennedy, living in Connecticut, Tokyo, Nantucket, Boston, and Toronto, and building a beautiful, meaningful life together. 

When Nicole decided to leave the workforce in 2005, she took her passion and applied that to raising her children and making a difference in her community. She was President of the New Canaan Young Women’s League and a Connecticut Board member of BuildOn. Nicole was Chair of the parents’ annual funds at New Canaan Country School and Dexter Southfield School, where she was also a member of the Board of Directors.  

Nicole was extraordinary, with a rare combination of intelligence, confidence, and inner and outer beauty. She loved hosting family and friends, sharing food and wine, travel, reading, ski weekends in Vermont, beach barbeques, and her beautiful garden on Nantucket. People often worried the flowers they delivered to Nicole would not stand up to the arrangements from her garden.   

Nicole loved life, and loved her family and friends hard. Her home and heart were always open. She was the glue to bring people together to create life-long friendships. When Nicole walked into a room, she brought pure sunshine and light. When she laughed, the world was better. Nicole was inclusive and kind. She was truly a “Wonder Woman” and an all-around “badass”.  

Nothing made Nicole prouder or brought her more joy, than seeing the young man and woman her children have become. Nicole laid the foundation to help her children become the best versions of themselves and her spirit and light will continue in them. 

Nicole dove headfirst into everything she did with intention, including her battle with cancer. Nicole knew she had to use every ounce of her strength and faith to fight her cancer. She fought the disease with amazing grace, strength and dignity. And when there were no more treatments available to help her, she accepted this with peace, and thanked her family and friends for the blessings they brought her. Nicole was selfless, and she will forever be an inspiration to all who knew her. 

Nicole is survived by her loving husband, Matt; son Harrison and daughter Kennedy; parents Jimmy and Denise Williamson; brother Josh and his wife Meagan; nephews JD and Lane; her in-laws Joe and Anne Cribbins; and many friends who became family. 

Nicole was spiritual and chose to live a life of faith and full of acts of love and service. We have established the Nicole Cribbins Foundation to further the research of Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and support cancer patients and their families.  

Family and friends are welcome to attend a celebration of life to honor Nicole. It will be held on March 10th at Grace Community Church in New Canaan, CT at 6:00PM. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the Nicole Cribbins Foundation.

Nicole Cribbins Foundation