Dick Nichol

Dick Nichol was born in the Zenith, KS home of his parents, Paul and Avis Nichol. He grew up in Zenith, helping in his father’s grocery store, and attending elementary school there. He completed eighth grade by taking the state exam in the county seat courthouse in Saint John, Kansas. High school was in Stafford, KS, with his first year of college classes at Sterling College being in lieu of his senior year in Stafford HS.   Since World War II was going on, Dick enlisted in the U.S. Navy immediately after graduation in 1944 at the age of 17. At the time, Dick hoped to pursue a career in medicine, so he joined the Naval Hospital Corps.

After the war and his military obligation ended, Dick earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Sterling College (Sterling, KS). Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough in his G.I. Bill allocation to pay for medical school, so Dick set out to start his career as a schoolteacher, with the intention to join medical school later.

Dick had a lifelong love of music, and started piano lessons at the age of six. As a young man, he also sang and played the trombone, participating in high school choir and band. Dick put this passion to good use for both his eventual vocation of music teacher and his avocation of evangelist and sharer of the gospel. Over the course of his life, Dick wrote several beautiful praise songs and hymns and continued to share his gift of music well into his nineties, using it to enhance worship, bible study, and fellowship.

Woodworking was another interest of Dick’s, which he claimed he came by naturally since his genealogical research showed that his Scottish ancestors were furniture makers, or “joiners”. (Genealogy was another passion of Dick’s – his extensive research led to a lengthy document with information about very many ancestors and relatives, both alive and dead.) Dick took woodworking classes in high school, and put his skills to many uses around the home. Late in life, at Brewster Place, Dick again took up this hobby, completing over 30 beautiful pieces of art.   He sold a few to appreciative customers, but gave most to family, which will be treasured.

When Dick was completing his undergraduate studies, his mother, Avis, had to undergo surgery. Her attending nurse was Delores Eck, and Dick met her while visiting his mother. Avis encouraged Dick to pursue a relationship with Delores, and set up a date for the two of them. Double dating with Dick and Delores were Dick’s college friend, Bob Scott and Delores’ best friend, Erna Graber. As fate would have it, Dick would marry both of these women, Delores first, and then after her death, Erna. Dick and Delores were married on Thanksgiving Day, 1948, and had over 50 happy years together. 1948 was also an important year for another of Dick’s relationships – on January 27 of that year, Dick yielded his life to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Confessing his sin, he asked forgiveness and thanked Christ Jesus for paying the debt, in full, there on the cruel cross at Calvary. Dick remained steadfast in his faith throughout his life.

Dick started his career teaching music in the Alden, KS schools – grades 1 – 12. After a year, he started teaching in Bushton, KS, where he organized a band and was the leader/teacher of the existing orchestra. The newly formed band won the approval of the community, and the young Nichol family, now with a new addition, baby Robert, stayed in Bushton for four years.

Robert Charles Nichol was named for Dick’s two friends in Sterling College (Bob Scott and Charles Johnson). Bob Nichol grew up liking music among other interests and had an inborn sense about him regarding electricity and electronics. He was a television design engineer, working for Merv Griffin Industries, when he died in a truck accident on June 8, 1980, just a few months short of his 30th birthday.

After Bushton, the Nichols moved to Wichita so Dick could pursue a Master’s Degree in Music Education at Wichita University – his passion for music had overcome his dreams of joining the medical profession. While in Wichita, Dick taught music in the Allison Jr. High school and then moved to Brooks Jr. High school when it opened in the NE section of Wichita. He also directed the Wichita Bible Church choir at that time.

The rest of Dick’s forty-year teaching career took place in Rialto, CA, at the Frisbie Jr. High School. The family lived in San Bernardino over those years. In his twenty years there, Dick brought honor to the school with many fine programs including five Broadway musicals, a challenge to the Junior High age, five summers in a row. The programs were well received and helped solve some of the social issues faced those years. The programs presented were “West Side Story,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Oklahoma,” “South Pacific,” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” Many of the student participants ended up going into musical professions, showing just a small portion of Dick’s legacy.

While Dick and Delores lived in San Bernardino, they remained very active at church and with other spiritual endeavors. They hosted a Missionary Fellowship in their home, which was a true labor of love, and Dick continued to lead church choirs wherever he was. Sadly, Delores went to be with her Lord in 2002, and Dick moved back East, where he was re-acquainted with his friend from long ago, Erna Graber. They were married in Springfield, MO, on April 24, 2004.

Erna decided to move to Topeka to be near her daughter, Ruth Ann, and Dick followed. The couple moved into Brewster Place, where Dick settled in, making new friends, carving wood again, and sharing his talents of music with other residents. As a volunteer at the Brewster Health Center, there were many blessings in sharing with residents there, in reading to them, praying with them, and bringing a bit of cheer and sunshine into their lives. A highlight of Dick’s time in Brewster was a concert he gave to over 90 guests in 2019 at the age of nearly 93! Dick played several beautiful piano pieces, some of which he had written himself, sang, and shared his love of his Lord Jesus Christ.

Dick was preceded in death by his two wives, Delores Aileen Eck-Nichol, and Erna Geraldine Graber-Nichol; his son, Robert Charles Nichol; sisters Doris Kyle Nichol and Barbara Avis Nichol-Ragsdale. One brother remains, Gerald Hamill Nichol. Nephews and nieces Julie Nichol-Stengele (Donn), Maria Nichol-Engelbrecht (Carl), Gail Nichol-Moyer (Tom), Sarah Nichol-Reindel (Drew), Brad Ragsdale (Tina), Bryan Ragsdale (Janna), and Brent Ragsdale (Patti); three step-children, Greg Tipton (Lynn), Ruth Ann Tipton-Arensdorf (Chris), and Steven Tipton (Ellie); others include family, and a host of friends. Dick has said, “God has given me a blessed host of friends. I want to see you all in heaven. Remember, Jesus is our passport.” I John: 11-12 – “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

Dick’s body was laid to rest next to Delores’ on Dec. 30 ^th in the Emmanuel Bible Church cemetery near MacPherson KS. A memorial service will be held on Jan. 18 ^th at 2 PM at the Brewster Place Chapel, 1205 SW 29 ^th St. in Topeka. Memorial gifts may be given to the Brewster Foundation or to Thru the Bible Radio in Pasadena, CA (www.ttb.org).