Olamae (Pennington) Nichols (Seymour)'s Obituary
Heaven gained a new angel when Olamae Elizabeth Pennington Nichols went to be with her Lord and Savior on December 24, 2013, at 94 years old. She passed at Cox South Hospital after a brief illness. She was a vivacious and positive spirited mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and niece who loved the Lord, singing and laughing.
Olamae was born on February 8, 1919, to James William and Ethel Bertha (Thomas) Anderson, in Norwood, MO. She had five siblings: four sisters, Hazel Cones, Wanda Stark, Thelma Towe, Eunice Francis, and one brother, Bill Anderson. She had accepted Christ as her personal savior at the age of 9 and rededicated her life to the Lord at the age of 28.
Her first kiss was, as she stated, “Heavenly” and received from William Kenneth Pennington, whom she later married on March 16, 1935. Together they had three children, Shirley Shores and husband, John, of Norwood, MO; Beverly Carter and husband, Jay, of Cotter, AR; and Ken Pennington and wife, Peggy, of Seymour. During their marriage they lived in many locations across the Ozarks, including Oak Forest, Cabool, Dunn, Jericho, Mountain Grove, Springfield and Seymour. In Seymour, together they owned and operated Pennington’s Home and Auto until Kenneth’s sudden passing on January 13, 1967. After his passing, Olamae and Kenneth’s son, Ken, joined her in the family business.
In 1978, Eual (Dick) Nichols asked Olamae to dinner. They had known each other from years prior when living in the Jericho area, and a spark was ignited. They later married in April, 1979. This union in marriage blended two very warm, loving families which gained Olamae four stepchildren; Denney Nichols and wife, Dottie, of Springfield, MO; Linda Paudert and husband, Bob, of Seymour, MO; David Nichols and wife, Janelle, of Sparta, MO; and Melanie Stafford and husband, Kenny, of Seymour, MO. This blended family also brought Olamae, over the years, a total of 18 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren, all of whom she had the opportunity to spend time with before her passing; they were the highlight of her life.
Together, Olamae and Dick enjoyed traveling and seeing the country in an RV and loved going into Canada to fish in the summer. They took grandchildren and/or children on most every trip they made. Family dinners were always something Olamae looked forward to. She never failed to serve her famous hot rolls and a variety of delectable homemade pies for every meal.
Olamae was a woman of perseverance and drive. She was a successful business woman during a time when women in business were not popular. She worked in the family business until her retirement in 1990. At that time, Ken and Peggy purchased full ownership of the business from her.
Retirement allowed Olamae to do even more of what she enjoyed, which was spending time with family, Dick and traveling. They made many trips to Treasure Lake and across the states, seeing beautiful countryside until his sudden passing on June 5, 2010.
Olamae always looked forward to Sunday so she could go to church, was always ready to go places on a moment’s notice, and was always there to love, listen and advise her family. She never turned down an opportunity to play a challenging game of pitch or dominos, which she won most of the time. Olamae was an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, to say the least. She rarely missed watching a game and knew the names of every player, who was on the injured list and team stats.
Olamae was preceded in death by her parents, four sisters, spouse-Kenneth, spouse-Dick, and grandson, Brandon Paudert. Though she is no longer with us here on earth we look forward to a reunion with her one day in Heaven.
In lieu of flowers, The Pennington Family respectfully requests memorial donations be made in Olamae's name to any of the following organizations which were dear to her: GSAF/Youth Empowerment, Cedar Gap Baptist or King's Food Pantry.
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