Myles L. Mace Jr., known to family and friends as Nick, a scientist, photographer, and inveterate traveler who skied with cinematic flair into his ninth decade and treated every stranger like an old friend, passed away on Saturday, May 23, at his home in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. He was 86 years young, as he liked to say.

Nick was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 24, 1939, the elder of two sons of the late Adelaide and Myles L. Mace. He spent his early years in Concord and Weston, MA, attending Brooks School and then Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Cambridge. Each winter, he and his younger brother, Terrence “Terry,” boarded a train to Dartmouth for ski school, where Nick found a sport that would stay with him for the rest of his life. First on and last off any mountain, he drew admiration from chairlifts across generations with his speed, style, and hot-dogging flair. 

In 1955, the family spent a few memorable years in Beverly Hills, California where Nick attended Cate School in Carpinteria, CA, before returning east to attend Harvard College. It was here he met Susan “Suzy” Bixby Andrews, the love of his life, with whom he would spend more than 60 years side by side. 

Nick earned a Ph.D. in biomedicine through the joint program of Baylor College of Medicine’s Department of Cell Biology and the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and held a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Cell Biology and Pathology Department at MD Anderson Hospital. He and Suzy welcomed their two daughters, Alexandra and Alison, during those years. The family returned to the Boston area in 1984, settling in Dover, a mile from his parents. A lifelong devotee of the electron microscope, Nick continued his scientific work with Cabot Chemical Co. and Genetic Micro Systems. 

His passion for science was matched by a lifelong love of art and photography. He built his own darkrooms and perfected his skills photographing wildlife, birds, and landscapes around the world, later self-publishing volumes of exquisite work from his travels. 

In retirement, Nick found his true harbor on Southport Island, Maine, where he sailed his Morris, Skyward, along the coast and into Canadian waters, and cruised his wooden launch, Skylark, on local adventures with his co-pilot puppy, Alfie. On land, his life in a number of private clubs was marked less by competition than by the lasting friendships he formed there — first as a competitive tennis player, later as a self-described duffer at golf. His ski house at Sugarloaf, along with regular trips to the European Alps and the American West, kept him on as many mountains as possible. 

Nick was a traveler, never a tourist — a distinction he relished. His intellectual curiosity and adventurous spirit carried him from grand hotels of cosmopolitan capitals to the most remote corners of the world: the Moroccan desert, the tribal lands of Myanmar and Northern Vietnam, the elephant camps of Thailand, African safari camps, ancient ruins, and the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. He reached them by every imaginable means, with a particular fondness for camels, elephants, horses, donkeys, burros, and any exotic sports car or off-road vehicle he could find. Cigar in hand, he regaled friends and family with tales of countries that no longer exist, while stories from his adventures surfaced casually in conversation, as though such experiences were perfectly ordinary. 

In defiance of Cate School’s rules, he hid his bright red MG in a sympathetic lemon farmer’s field off campus — the seed of a lifelong obsession with all things Formula One. He almost never missed a televised race, right up until the hour before he died. An early Porsche sealed his passion for the thrill of a sporty engine, and he prized his rare vintage Porsches, early Ferraris, an AC Bristol, and a newer turbo that kept highway patrol officers on their toes. 

Nick was seriously funny for a serious man, never letting facts get in the way of a good story, and lived for a bit of banter. Disarmingly friendly, he treated everyone the same, offering strangers the warmth and humor most people reserve for old friends. He was unapologetic about his cigars and ate ice cream daily with the glee of a small child, always asking his signature question: “How many scoops?” 

Nick is survived by his wife Suzy; his brother, Terry Mace and his spouse Anne Wood, of Fox Island, Washington; his daughters and their spouses, Alexandra and Mark Abrahams of Montecito, CA, and Alison and Scott Falk of Essex, MA; three grandchildren, Peyton and Charlie Falk of Massachusetts and Grace Abrahams of New York and Miami; his beloved Bracco Italiano dog, Alfie; and a wide circle of friends. 

A Celebration of Life for Nick will be held at the Emmanuel Church, 24 Masconomet St., Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, on Friday, June 12 at 11 a.m., with a reception to follow. Relatives and friends are invited to meet directly at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that mourners support a nonprofit of their choice, plant peonies in a garden, share an ice cream, or perform a simple act of kindness in Nick’s memory. To share a memory or offer condolences, please visit www.odonnellfuneralservice.com.