Merle J Nichols Jr., 75, of Dunnellon, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather was called home to the lord on April 5, 2012 surrounded by his loving family.
A celebration service will be held at 10 AM on Tuesday, April 10, 2012 AM at Morriston Baptist Church, Morriston, FL (address below).
Merle was born Dec. 30, 1936 to Merle and Lillian Nichols in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He met the love of his life, Cynthia M. Waters, at the bus terminal in Baltimore, MD. They were married Dec. 15, 1956 and celebrated 55 years of happiness and blessings. Merle proudly served his country in the US Navy for 4 years and the in the United States Air Force for 23 years of service to his country. He then went to work for Broward County Sheriffs Dept. as part of their DUI task force for nine years. They lived in Ft. Lauderdale and later moved to the county in Dunnellon. He was an avid fisherman and loved his farm.
Merle is survived by his beloved wife Cynthia; 3 daughters, Pamela, Tamara, and Penny; son, Michael; 10 grandchildren, Matthew, Rusty, Jamie, Erin, Kelly, Jessica, Courtney, Joshua, Haley, Beth and 10 great grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to www.havenhospice.org or to Morriston Baptist Church Building Fund at 20291 SE 33rd Street, Morriston, FL 32668.
Please sign the guestbook below.
Merle was very special. My favorite memory was when the evening service was going longer than usual and he just stood up in the middle of the congregation, made an announcement about needing to care for his chickens, offering everyone eggs and then walking out.
He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, or to talk about Jesus (or politics).
Please don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.
Merle was special in my life. He was a father to me and tought me alot. I will never forget the time when we went fishing in the Keys, and had to be towed in by another boat because our battery had died. We would talk about everything. Merle was a DAD, Mentor, and a Freind to me. I will miss you. See you in haven.
I am so truly sorry for your loss. I know that Opa will be missed by all of family. It was such wonderful joy that Matthew’s grandfather performed the wedding cermony for his marriage to my daughter, Amy. What a wonderful memory for me. My heart aches for all of you in this great time of sorrow. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.
My dear Cyndy & family,
My memories of Jimmy are so dear it’s impossible
to articulate, both of you were so selfless in sharing your your home and love with so many. My
family and I will be forever grateful. May God
hold you and your always in His care.
He will be surely missed by all of us that had the pleasure of knowing him. May god bless the family and let “Nick” rest in peace.
Jim, As much brother as cousin. That saying is true, thought we have been apart most of our adult life we could take up like we had never been apart. Love you, Jim. Emily Fern
We are saddened by your loss. I will never forget your wedding. It was a privelege to be your maid of honor. We shall remember Jim in our prayers. Love Lois & Chuck
Cyndy so sorry to hear about Jims passing.
You have been in our prayers and will be. He has gone back to our maker. Love you lots
Lorraine
Cyndy,
So sorry for your loss. We will keep you in our prayers.
Love, Larry & Michele
Cindy and family,
We are truly sorry to hear about Jim. The memories we have and the bonds we created while
being together will always remain with us. I’m sorry we live so far away and cannot be there with you and the children in your time of sorrow. Please accept our condolences.
CYNDY & FAMILY,
PLEASE ACCEPT OUR DEEPEST REGRET. JIM WAS ONE OF A KIND. YOU AND HE BEING A HUGE PART OF SEVERAL OF OUR GRANDCHILDREN. WILL CHECH WITH YOU SOON TO SEE IF I CAN DO ANYTHING. RICK HAS BEEN IN THE HOSPITAL TWICE RECENTLY. I AM SO SORRY WE HAVE NOT KEPT IN BETTER TOUCH. MAY HE REST IN PEACE. THE LAST TIME YOU WERE HERE WE WE JOKING ABOUT POLITICS, HE ALWAYS MADE US LAUGH. WE LOVE YOU , ALWAYS, JUDY AND RICK CRAIN & ALL OUR FAMILY
Dear Cindy and family
I am so sorry for your loss Jim was your greatest fan and so in love with you and will always be with you. Please take care and I will be in touch My love prayer hope and peace are with you all
Love Barbara and Rick McCrary
I forgot the most important memory of all was the day he married my wife and I almost 12 years ago. He raised a great family and help start another happy family. Thank you Opa,
Another angel was called home with a welcome to “Top of the day to you”. He was a great man, grandfather, teacher, and a person thet would help with anything. I am lucky to have had the opertunity to experiance many wounderful memoriers together.
Dearest Cyndy,
Thinking of you and your family during this time of loss. Much Love, Becky
Dear Cyndy: I am so sorry about your loss of Jimmy. He was a special person and will be greatly missed. I will never forget how he loved Home Town Buffet and the three of us would go after church when you came to Ft. Lauderdale. I am having trouble with my message taking. It keeps disappearing. I this one gets to you. If you need anything, call us. We love you! MaryBari
Dearest Cyndy I was shocked to see this Obit when I opened your e-mail. My heart and prayers go out to you dear friend.Jim is in God’s loving care now. For that you are so blessed. Take care of yourself and keep in touch and stay healthy.
Love ya and God bless…Sue Howell
Dear Cyndy and Family,
My heartfelt condolences go out to you. I know Jim will be sorely missed in the family and in the community. May God be with you during this difficult time.
Dear Cyndy and family….
We are so saddened to learn of Nick’s passing. All the memories of the times our families spent together throughout our military days overseas come flooding back. We will never forget him. What a great man!
Our hearts and prayers are with Cyndy, Pam, Tammy, Penny, Mike and their families during this time of loss.
Love, Lee and Marthe Rheinschmidt
Dear Cyndy and family:
.
I was so sad to hear about your loss. I’ll remember Nick always. I have such fond memories…..You are all in my thoughts and prayers.
.
Love, Carol (Rheinschmidt) Sutter
Dearest Cindy and family,
It was heart wrenching to hear of Nicks passing. I remember well how welcome all of your family made us feel on our first tour in Germany. That assignment was made rich by your friendship. Nick was a mentor as well as a friend.
Dear Penny and Family,
We are deeply saddened to hear about the loss of your dad. Please accept our condolences.
Jenny & Jim Uhde
My deepest sympathy goes out to the whole family. I am a friend of Penny’s and remember the first I met her Dad, he introduced himself as Nick. Cyndy always called him Jimmy and I knew that he would always make us smile. From all the years that I was forturnate enough to be around the family, I can truly say her whole family is wonderful. I am so sorry for your loss. Your dad was a great father and a good guy. My thoughts and prayers are with your whole family. Love, Hugs and prayers to all of you.
We first met Jim & Cyndy at Morriston Baptist when we sang there several months ago. From the moment that we met them, we felt that we had known Jim & Cyndy all our lives. Their sweet spirit and love for God and their church meant a lot. We also loved visiting Jim & Cyndy on their farm. Jim even let me feed his chickens and collect eggs and drive his golf cart (after several “lessons”) of course. We loved hearing Jim share his stories. They were always interesting and we had many laughs. Our prayers are with Cyndy and her family as Jim will be greatly missed here on earth, but he is definately in a better place now with our Lord and Savior and some day we will see him again.
So sorry for your loss. We know that you will miss him each and every day. We pray that our God and Saviour will give comfort you in all ways.
Dad you were always there when I needed you, I love you and will miss you very much. Love Mike
PS I’ll think of you often
Some of our fondest memories were with Cyndy and Jim playing cards and lauging it up. The boys still talk and laugh about “Elvis”!!! You two are truely life long friends to us. Jim will be forever missed. Our deepest sympathy and prayers go out to you and your family.
Love,
Vern and Judy Houchin and family
Dear Cindy & Family,
He will surely be missed. He was the closest thing I ever had to a brother. We had many great times together in our youth and I still can’t understand how he talked me into joining the Navy with him. He got seasick looking at at glass of water and got put aboard a ship and I stayed on land. I look forward to seeing him again when my call comes and we can reminisce. Keep the memories of those good times!
Dear aunt cyndy we love you very much and uncle jim will be missed very much!! He is up there with auntie fran and daddy and grammy and grandpa. The group of them is looking down at us and telling us that they are ok and that they love us very much!! If you need anything just give me a call. I love you aunt cyndy love jackie
Dear Cindy and family, We were sorry to of the
loss of Merle. Know that you are in our
thoughts and prayers. God bless you .
Liz and Marvin
My dad was so special. I can’t believe he is gone but I know he is in a better place. Hopefully he will always be looking down on me and my mom, sisters and brother and everyone else that loved him. I love and miss you dad…..
Merle was a good man. Ted and he had so much in common. I’m sure they’re having a great time together.Ted talked about him and you often.Message me when you can. God bless you and yours and comfort you.
opa i will miss you so much its so hard to know that your not here with us anymore i know in my heart that your ok and in a great place next to god almighty hey while your there put in a good word for me please i love you
Well, Merle – or rather Jim, as we got to know you – would it not have been a friendly big bang to once again call a Square Dance tip together, the way we did when You, Cindy and your family, the Clarks (and the Rheinschmidts?) and other nice folks and our dancers from the Cloverleaves SDC Hannover had fun in square dancing by your invitation in the little restaurant in a “garden colony” at Kassel in November 1011 – 1974, and again next morning, after a crowded breakfast, in the street in front of your homes?! Even though it was chilly and the mike seemed to be glued to the hand by the cold…
Maybe, we get a chance “upstairs” when I join you in due time. We’ll call the whole program. And this time I shall see to it, that you will be wrapped up in paper-rolls to call “blindfolded”. And everybody tiptoes out of the room for a steak and a beer. I still see the twinkle in your eyes and the broad grin when I finally realised everybody was gone…
We were given this one encounter in Kassel and one more in Hannover. Pretty soon you had to leave and go back to the States. But ever since we never lost contact. Cindy saw to it that we stayed in touch, and we exchanged letters at least once a year. So, we could keep track of your life and vice versa, learn about the growing up of children and grand-children, when they started out for life, going to schools and colleges and more, to finally pick up a profession. All this, just because we got to know each other, for a split second, measured by the time of the universe and God. And it worked the magic. We stayed in touch with only a dim chance to meet again.
Thank you, Jim, you’d been a nice distant friend, and thank you, Cynthia, for letting it continue for all of us. “We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t no when”
Upstairs, for certain.
Renate and Jürgen B. Hartig
GarbsenHannover – Germany
JuergenB.Hartig@t-online.de
Dear Aunt Cyndy, I will miss Uncle Jim so much. He was always so good to me as were you. I will miss calling him to find out what is going on. Our hearts are with you and all the family now.
Aunt Cyndy…I forgot to say that now Uncle Jim can be with his sisters. I know he waited a long time to be with my mom..I know she was wating for him as she will be for all of us. It gives me comfort to know that, I hope it does you too. All My LOVE to you and yours.