~ IN MEMORY ~
Military veteran, DL Capt. Richard Nichols
MAY 2, 1935 ~ NOVEMBER 29, 2018
Word has reached our group with the passing of retired Delta
pilot Captain Richard Nichols, age 83. Captain Nichols joined Delta Air
Lines 08-27-1962 and retired May of 1988, based DFW. He is survived by his wife
Diane, their children and grandchildren plus many other dear friends and
extended family members.
Captain Nichols’ obituary may be viewed online
at
A CELEBRATION OF LIFE service and reception is planned
for Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 11:00 AM
FRENCH funeral home, 7121 Wyoming Blvd. NE , Albuquerque, NM
87109.
Thank you,
~ Carol for the PCN
Richard Nichols.........MAY 2, 1935 ~ NOVEMBER 29, 2018 (AGE
83)
Richard Nichols was welcomed into the kingdom of heaven on
November 29, 2018. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend. In
Richard’s final days he did not complain but spoke of his thankfulness to God
for the blessing and adventure filled life he was given.
Richard was born May 2, 1935 in Madison, Wisconsin. He
graduated from Madison West High School. While attending the University of
Wisconsin he was accepted into the United States Air Force Aviation Cadet
Training program where he began a life long love affair with aviation. He was
commissioned a 2nd lieutenant and received his wings in July of 1958. He then
flew the F-89 in the Wisconsin Air National Guard and the F-102 in the Texas Air
National Guard. Of the twenty-three aircraft that Richard went on to fly he
considered each of them an adventure. Richard initially flew the DC-6 for Delta
Airlines where he was hired in 1961. He culminated his 25-year career as a
captain of the Boeing 767.
In his retirement he served on the Taos, New Mexico Airport
Board for three terms. Through the EAA and Blue Sky foundation he enabled many
young people to experience aviation at its best in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Richard
also built his own Rans S-6S “Coyote” plane which he flew out of the Taos and
Double Eagle Airports.
Richard met his one true love Diane McCall, on a blind date.
He proceeded to court her by buzzing her dorm at Texas Women’s University in an
F-86. Diane was sufficiently wooed and they married in 1960.
Richard greatly enjoyed being a husband, father, grandfather,
and brother. He taught his children to embrace life and be thankful for the
blessings within it. He is survived by his wife Diane and their
children:
Daughter Wendy and husband Bruno Biasetto, Daughter Leslie and
husband Mark Davidian,
Daughter Kimberly Nichols and fiancé John Curto, Son Matthew
and wife Vanesa Nichols
The grandchildren include: Alessandro, Gemma, and Guliana
Biasetto...Mikaela, Lauren, and Claire Davidian...Trevor, Abigail, and Emily
Perkins...Mackenzie, Quentin, and Olivia Nichols.
Richard is also survived by his brother and sister in-law
David and Karen Nichols and sister in-law Dennie Nichols.
Loved ones that preceded Richard in death are his parents
Walton and Geraldine Nichols and his two older brothers Walton and Robert
Nichols.
A Celebration of Life service and reception will be held
Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at FRENCH - Wyoming, 7121 Wyoming Blvd.
NE, Albuquerque, NM.
If you would like to make a donation in Richard’s name, please
give to the charity that is dearest to your heart.
Richard’s favorite poem by World War II pilot, John Gillespie
Magee, Jr.:
High Flight
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling
mirth
Of sun-split clouds — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and
swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy
grace,
Where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
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