William R. Nichols (Lebanon)'s Obituary
William Robert “Bill” Nichols, son of George Henry and Hazel Young Hessler Nichols, was born February 22, 1941, in Boston, Massachusetts. He departed this life Sunday, June 24, 2012, in Christian Health Care South, in Lebanon, Missouri, at the age of seventy-one years, four months, and two days.
His parents preceded him in death.
William is survived by a brother, George Nichols, of Kansas City, Missouri; a number of nieces and nephews including, Samuel Nichols, and his wife, Debbie, and their daughter, Chloe, of Los Angeles, California, Nancy Tyler, and her husband, Noel, Elaine Nichols, and her husband, Ewan, and their child, Calen, all of Kansas City, Missouri; a very special friend, Marie, of Lebanon, Missouri; as well as a host of other relatives and many friends.
He was born in Massachusetts, and was raised there for a few years before his family moved to Lebanon, Missouri. At the age of five, Bill was afflicted with Polio, and his mother worked with him diligently to help him overcome the disease as much as possible. After graduating from Lebanon High School in the Class of 1960, Bill worked for Vernon Dillard Abstract and then W.D. Waterman Insurance. He also worked at the Sale Barn and Laclede Metal Products for a few years. He later became a real estate agent and opened Nichols Realty. He was appointed by the Governor of Missouri to become the director of the Lebanon License Bureau, a position which he held off and on for sixteen years. He also co-founded National TV, and created Ozark Weblink, the first private full service internet in Lebanon.
Bill was a member of First Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Lebanon.
He was a longtime member of the Lebanon Lions Club and the Moose Lodge. He was active in Republican Party politics and enjoyed keeping up to date on government issues. He was an avid reader, and liked traveling in his later years. He bore his illness with great dignity, and had a deep admiration for his mother because of how she had worked with him as a child. He especially loved his dog “Baby Blu”.
Bill was a loving brother, and uncle, and was a caring neighbor and friend. He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by all those who knew and loved him.
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