Faces Of Nantucket: Neville Richen

Years on Nantucket: 37

Favorite things about the island: The personable community, the arts and culture, scalloping and shellfishing, the view of the ocean from my house.

Actor. Immigrant. Public servant. Military man. Builder. Volunteer. Island resident Neville Richen has worn many hats since he came to the United States from his home country Trinidad in 1945. But it was his move to Nantucket in the late 1970s the proved to be one of the most consequential in his life, and soon the island would adopt him like so many others over the years.

“When I came to Nantucket I fell in love with it right away,” Richen said. “It reminds me of Trinidad – island living.”

Richen has made many unique contributions to the island over the ensuing decades through his work with the Community Preservation Committee, in the acting and theatre community, and with the Department of Public Works.

After moving from Trinidad to Brooklyn in 1945, Richen began fifth grade in the city and later attended Wingate High School. After graduating, he joined the Strategic Air Command, where he served from 1962 until 1966, when he returned to New York City. Thats where Richen discovered his passion for acting and he began performing in both off- and on-Broadway shows around 1967. In the same year, he was instrumental in founding the Caribbean American Repertory Theatre, a company that still exists today. Richen’s love for theatre eventually extended to Nantucket, where he became involved in both the Actor’s Theatre of Nantucket and the Theatre Workshop, where he acted and directed numerous productions – including the original “Little Shop of Horrors” on the island.

Spending summers on the island beginning in the late 70s, Richen immediately felt at home – and so he moved to the island year-round in 1987.

To this day, Richen has contributed to the town in numerous ways. When he first arrived on the island, he began working at the Potter’s Wheel for Adelaide England, and then quickly transitioned to construction and homebuilding.

His commitment to community service and involvement soon led him to join the Department of Public Works (DPW), where he worked at the landfill and helped the island transition into a recycling program. Richen also picked up work at the airport, including working with heavy machinery during plane landings.

It was during this time that Richen became more involved in town governement, and he helped shape the island’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC). Previously a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, when the CPC came to fruition on the island, Richen asked the town to appoint him as its representative. He then established an office for the CPC on Easy Street, and still serves as its interim chair today.

“I like service to the community,” Richen explained. “Here I can do it and I can feel really good about it. And, you can actually see the results almost right away.”

As a core member of the CPC, Richen has contributed to notable projects around the island including the Nantucket Atheneum and American Legion Hall upkeep, the Delta fields and Nobadeer turf fields, the Linda Loring Nature Foundation, Saint Mary’s Church renovations, and the playgrounds at Jetties Beach and Sconset, and affordable housing.

“Nantucket is unusual,” Richen said. “The things that we do here, the CPC doesn’t do on the mainland because it’s different. There’s certain things that we give grants for funding, because it’s needed.”

Although he officially retired in 2007, Richen remains involved in the community, through volunteer work and more. He joined the Odd Fellows, Freemasons, and American Legion, even becoming the Grandmaster of the Odd Fellows and holding posts on the international level.

He now loves spending time at his home in Tom Nevers, meticulously taking care of the house he built up from an empty lot. As Richen’s dad used to say, when the “trees get undressed,” the ocean can be spotted through the trees and bushes that Richen gardens and prunes with care.

Neville Richen’s journey from Trinidad to Nantucket is marked by his deep commitment to the community and the arts, and his service to the island will leave a lasting impact on the community.