Ann Nickerson, right, stands with her husband, Bill, at the 2017 Weston Antiques Show in Vermont. Rick Russack photo.

ORLEANS, MASS. – Ann Smyth Nickerson, 62, passed away May 12 at her Orleans home after a 15-year battle with breast cancer. A two-time career champion, Ann began fighting her third battle in January of 2017, overcoming an initial diagnosis of a failed heart valve, metastatic breast cancer, broken rib and pneumonia. She fought with an uncommon willfulness and gratitude that her oncologist wished she could bottle.

Ann was born to Robert and Adelaide Smyth of Lincoln, Mass. She grew up with her three brothers and attended Mount Holyoke College as a chemistry major.

Ann lived her life in pursuit of beauty. She was one half of William Nickerson Antiques, traveling New England and the Middle States to deal in early American furniture and fine art. She collected spongewear, Sandwich glass and paintings. She and her husband were longtime members of the Cape Cod Antique Dealers Association and maintained a booth at The Mews Antiques in Brewster, Mass.

A colleague, Patricia Anderson, said, “We all know people who when they passed barely left a ripple, Ann left a huge wake. She was no nibbler of life. Instead she jumped in feet first and greeted every day with enormous enthusiasm. Her laugh, her quick wit, her helpfulness to anyone who needed a hand are legendary. We will all truly miss her in our antiquing world.”

Ann is survived by her husband, Bill, daughter Elizabeth and her cocker spaniel, Amanda.