Update: a link has been added to the fundraising site friends have set up for funeral expenses.
Laura Nichols, the proprietor of The Blue Plate Special and a longtime South Orange resident and business woman, died suddenly early this morning in Long Island.
According to her husband, Tom Nichols, Laura Grace Stammers Nichols was in Baldwin, Long Island helping her sister Deidre Stammers with funeral preparations for her late brother-in-law Adrian Allain when she had what appeared to be a seizure and fell unconscious. Nichols was taken by emergency medical services to a local hospital but could not be revived.
Funeral services will be held at Preston Funeral Home in South Orange next week; the time of services has not yet been set.
Nichols ran The Blue Plate Special, a popular restaurant and later catering business, with her life partner, Dan Pupke. Pupke is currently still on Long Island for Allain’s funeral, said Tom Nichols.
Friends have set up a Gofundme site where people can donate to help Laura’s family with funeral expenses.
The Village Green will update this article as soon as we learn details of the wake and funeral arrangements.
