Nichols, Eleavor Frances (Field) 1918-2007
NICHOLS, FIELD, SCHINZEL, MELANY, HAGEMAN, SONDERGARD, MARTINSON, BULTMAN, MCCONNELL
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 11/11/2012 at 14:41:38
Eleanor F. Nichols, age 88, of Decorah, Iowa, died Wednesday, March 7, 2007 at the Patty Elwood Center in Cresco, Iowa following a long illness with Alzheimer's disease.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Saturday, March 10, 2007 at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Decorah by Rev. Matthew H. Perkins, with burial in Phelps Cemetery.
Friends may call from 4:00-7:00 P.M. Friday at Fjelstul Funeral Home and an hour prior to the services on Saturday at the church.
Eleanor Frances (Field) Nichols was born March 18, 1918, in Rolfe, IA, the daughter of Francis “Ted” Melany and Henrietta Marie (Schinzel) Field. She enjoyed her childhood in Rolfe and Des Moines, graduating from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines with the class of 1936, where she delighted in her tuba playing and loved to tell about it!
Eleanor attended Drake University before completing her Registered Nurses’ Training at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA in 1941.
Eleanor was united in marriage to Carl F. Nichols on April 12, 1941 in Iowa City at First Presbyterian Church “Old Brick.” This union was blessed with four children: Carol, Marc, Diane and Paul. Eleanor was happy and funny. She liked people, making friends wherever she went. She was dearly loved and sought out by friends and family. Eleanor shared her gift of humor with everyone around her, finding fun in everyday happenings and making people laugh and feel good. She enjoyed knitting and sharing hundreds of dish rags in her life.
Eleanor appreciated her Decorah community and loved showing it to visitors. She contributed in many ways through the years, including guiding tour buses around town during Nordic Fest. She was an active member of the Congregational Church and Plymouth Circle. She volunteered her nursing skills from giving TB tests in the school to accompanying the Decorah Kilties on trips as the official “nurse”. Carl and Eleanor also enjoyed hosting outdoor receptions for the Scandinavian Institute from Luther College.
Eleanor loved life. She was an avid flower gardener and bridge player. She liked winter and snow, rain on the roof and a “good storm.” She and Carl traveled frequently and she never could say enough about their trip to Alaska in a small plane with Roy Schultz and the Flying Farmers. For years Eleanor and Carl wintered in Ft. Myers Beach, FL, loving the tropical vegetation, swimming in her pool, helping Carl fish :-) and entertaining many friends and family.
Eleanor became a resident of the Patty Elwood Center in Cresco, Iowa on December 13, 2004.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Survivors include her husband of nearly 66 years, Carl F. Nichols, of Decorah, IA; daughters, Carol (Herb) Hageman of Decorah, IA and Diane (Michael) Sondergard of Iowa City, IA; her sons, Marc (Sherry) Nichols of Decorah, IA and Paul (Bev) Nichols of Decorah, IA; her sister, Margaret Martinson of Independence, IA; grandchildren Amy (John) Bultman, Andrew (Min Yu) Hageman, Rachel (Mark) McConnell, Craig Nichols, Christy Nichols, Carrie Nichols, Collin Sondergard, Jeffrey Sondergard, B.J. (Laura) Nichols and Benji Nichols; and three great-grandchildren: James and Anne Bultman and Wilson Nichols.
Memorials may be given to Patty Elwood Center, 21668 80th Street, Cresco, IA 52136; Howard County Hospice, 327 8th Avenue West, Cresco, Iowa 52136 or Winneshiek Medical Center Hospice, 907 Montgomery Street, Decorah, Iowa 52101
Source: Fjelstul Funeral Home database
Phelps Cemetery
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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