Obituary of Ulys Nickle

Ulys "Nick" Nickle, 85, beloved father and grandfather, passed away peacefully Saturday, September 26, 2009, at Holmes Regional Hospital, surrounded by his devoted family. He was born in El Dorado, KS on June 2, 1924 to Lawrence and Effie Nickle. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Nancy, and his sister, Donna Keim. He has been a resident of Brevard County for 46 years. He grew up on a depression era farm in a small house without electricity or running water. After graduating high school, he joined the Navy and served three years in the Marshall Islands during WWII. He earned a Master's Degree from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1951, where he became an accomplished painter and met Nancy, his wife of 49 years. He then started a 35 year career with Boeing Aerospace, first as a technical draftsman, then rose to the level of corporate executive. He worked on the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle programs and retired in 1986. Despite maintaining a full time career and raising a family, he found time to pursue creative interests as he continued to paint and write and was once a member of the Indian River Players where he acted, directed, edited scripts and designed sets for plays. In his later years his passions were golf, writing, history, and film. He is survived by his daughter, Jessica Collins and her husband Peter, his son, John and his wife Jana, his son, Scott and his wife Debbie, his four grandchildren, Corey, Luke, Sara, and John, and his niece Toni Keim. A memorial service will be held on Saturday October 3, 2009 at 2:00pm at Beach Funeral Home in Indian Harbour Beach, FL, 1689 South Patrick Drive.