Pauline Nicholson, longtime member of Elvis Presley's household staff, died on July 7 at age 76 after a long bout with cancer. We were in touch with Pauline's family throughout her illness and, per the family's wishes, have waited until now to post information on Elvis.com while they worked through various details. An article ran in today's edition of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis and can be found on the paper's site.

Pauline Nicholson joined the Elvis's staff at Graceland as a cook and housekeeper in the mid-1960s. Members of his original household staff continued to work at Graceland after Elvis died in 1977, some for a number of years after Graceland opened for public tours in 1982. Pauline retired from her position at Graceland in 1990.

Hers was a family history with Elvis and Graceland. Husband Ossie Nicholson, Sr. went to work on the Graceland security staff in 1974 when Elvis heard he had been laid off from his job and hired him. Like his wife, Ossie continued on staff after Elvis's passing and through a number of years after Graceland opened as a museum, retiring in 1999. In the earlier years of Graceland's being open to the public, daughters Michelle and Joslyn worked as part of the Graceland tour operations staff.

Periodically, Pauline would come out of retirement when asked by Priscilla or Lisa Presley to return to Graceland to cook for an after-tour-hours family meal. It made some of their special visits to Graceland seem like old times over the years. Pauline's last such "command performance" was when Priscilla and Lisa hosted a family dinner at Graceland during the Christmas season in 2004. Pauline, with assistance from her family, came through with a masterpiece of Southern tradition. Portions of the dinner event were shot for the new documentary Elvis By The Presleys.

Visitation is 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM on Saturday, July 16 at Mt. Pigsah Missionary Baptist Church, 3636 Weaver. Funeral services will be 3:00 PM on Sunday, July 17 at that church.

The family has not indicated a preference for memorial charitable donations. Any condolence cards or memorial notices can be sent to Graceland and we will forward to the family. These may be sent to:

Graceland/EPE Corporate Offices Attn: Family of Pauline Nicholson 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard Memphis, TN 38116 USA

All of the EPE staff extend our deepest sympathies to Ossie, Michelle, Joslyn and all the family of dear, lovely Pauline Nicholson. We know what you have lost because we share that loss.