Nicholas Edwin Weeks

Nicholas Edwin Weeks was born in Albion, NY on Oct. 8, 1941. He died at his home in Sonoma, Calif. on Sept. 28, 2020.

Despite his having left Western New York for California in 1963, the day after he graduated from Syracuse University, College of Forestry in Landscape Architecture, growing up on Brown Road colored the rest of his life. Nick took full advantage of the fields that surrounded his childhood home and, with his hunting dogs and boyhood pals, he explored the treasures that the landscape held. He grew up in a close-knit family of artists, conservationists, farmers and teachers and he learned to appreciate all of those skills as he carved out his own career path.

Nick’s parents were Bill and Helen Weeks. Together with his brother, Will, and their many aunts and uncles and cousins, Weeks and Ostrowski. week-ends and holidays were spent together eating the Polish food his grandmother prepared and enjoying the piano music of his Grandmother Weeks.

Nick stepped off in to his life away from Western New York when he took his first job in Santa Barbara, California where he worked for California Department of Parks and Recreation designing parks and camp sites in Southern California. From there, he went to California Department of Transportation and, finally, he had a 32-year career with the National Park Service. Nick had a notable career with that agency and was responsible for evaluating many sites for consideration as national parks. He was well-respected among his peers for his skills as a landscape architect and environmental planner and received numerous awards for his service.

Nick was not all work, however, and became known for his adventurous spirit which took him to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East for 13 months in 1967. Later, in 1970, he spend another year traveling through Asia. Nick never let his passport lapse and introduced his children to the joys of international travel during the summers when they would drive throughout Europe, exploring.

Nick settled in Sonoma, Calif. after he married Mary Anne (Piedmonte) in 1974. That is where they raised their two children, Nicholas and Lucia (Ryan) Dorsey. Lucia and Ryan and their 3 daughters now live in Clay, NY so Nick made it a priority to visit Western New York at least twice a year. He maintained a deep affection for the land there and the lessons he learned on those early mornings.

Nick loved to fish, to hunt, to identify birds and to read maps. He taught his three ‘girls” how to “look “ and they are now avid birders. The girls (Caitlin, Briana and Keira) search for signs of Nick in the hawks and the hummingbirds and the owls in their own woods.

Nick is also survived by his brother, Will (Edie), nephews Chris (Jami) and Kelsey (Melody) and numerous cousins, most of whom are still in NYS.

Nick is missed every day by his family who loved his wit, his wisdom and his company.

Contributions in Nick’s name can be made to Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary, Ithaca, NY.