I, Richard Dean Nichols, was born October 29, 1934 in Satanta, Kansas to Gene and Dorothy (Teeter) Nichols. I was the oldest grandchild on my mother's side of the family; who had seven siblings. I held this position for 4 1/2 years until a cousin and my first sister Karen, came along. Ended up with 21 of us cousins. We had lots of family reunions and as time went on the family grew bigger and bigger. I still have two aunts and we still have a Teeter reunion once a year in July. I was the second oldest grandchild on Dad's side. Dad's youngest brother is still living.

Mother and Dad rented several different farm-ranches, and during this time me, my two sisters, Karen and Sharen, and my brother John were born. He is twelve years younger than me.

Mother taught at a country school, teaching all eight grades when I was 4. They allowed me to go ahead and start then which made me the youngest in my graduating class.

My dad was an avid horseman—raising quarter horses. On the ranch at Meade, Kansas (The Crooked L) the owner of the ranch owned all the cattle (about 300 mother cows) and Dad got half of the calves, as he did all of the labor. There was some contention because of the horses so my dad decided to buy a ranch of his own. When I was 15 (between my sophomore and junior years) we moved to Flagler, Colorado, which is on US I-70, half-way between Limon and Burlington, or 120 miles SE of Denver.

I graduated valedictorian of my graduating class there at Flagler, Colorado in 1952.

That fall I started college at Colorado A & M in Fort Collins, getting a degree in both animal husbandry and agronomy. Colorado A & M, being a Land Grant College, required that each male have 2 years of ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corp). I continued this training for the last two years, mainly because I got paid $29.00 a month and at that time that was worth a lot more than it is today. I graduated from Colorado State University, (the name having been changed) June 7, 1957, as a second Lieutenant and served in the Infantry Branch of the USA Army. Money was tight during this time and after the first quarter of my sophomore year I dropped out for a year and worked for the Flagler Conservation District. It was during this time that I and my bride started dating.

On July 7, 1957, a month after graduating, Dorthy Loutzenhiser and I were married.

About the middle of August we traveled to Fort Benning, Georgia, where I spent the next four months in Basic Infantry Officers Training Corp. I hoped to get into flight school but am color blind so that wouldn't have worked. From Benning I was assigned as an infantry training officer at Fort Ord, California. This was a time between the Korean and Vietnam wars. I got a new set of recruits every 8 weeks and spent most of my time out on the firing range. I attribute a lot of my hearing loss to that. After discharge I was in the reserves for two years. I lived too far from a reserve training unit, so spent 2 weeks each year in early February at Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Our oldest 2 girls, Pamela Smith and Patricia Daugherty were born while we were in California.

Upon discharge we moved onto a rented farm at Cope, Colorado. We had about 240 acres of grass and the remaining 400 acres was cultivated, half of which was planted to wheat (which hailed out both years we were there) and the other half fallowed (nothing planted). My dad gave me 5 heifers and I did some work for Dorthy's father in exchange for a bull. I was able to get a loan and bought 10 more cows and also 10 milk cows. Dorthy's dad also gave us some laying hens and some roosters that had gotten too tough for frying but made very good chicken and noodles. We sold cream and eggs to help buy groceries and raised a vegetable garden. These plus my working off the farm and helping with the construction of a new Arickaree school about 8 miles from us, saw us through those two years. The school was out in the middle of no-where. I also worked for an older neighbor and his wife, who had sort of taken us under their wing.

Our last two children, a son Robin and daughter Barbara were born while we lived here.

In the fall of 1961 my mother's oldest brother was killed and we moved to his place in southeastern Colorado about 230 miles south. Walsh, which is about 30 miles from Oklahoma and 15 from Kansas—out on the plains (desert actually with only a 15 inch annual rain fall) and in the boonies—a long way from anywhere—380 miles from Edmond, Oklahoma. We moved our cow herd, which had grown to about 30 head and only one milk cow—the rest we had sold.

The place we moved to was only 3 miles from Walsh, quite a difference, as we had been 30-40 miles from a town of any size—over a 1000 people.

There were 640 acres of grass so we got a loan and bought another 30 mother cows. This place had an irrigation well and we grew mainly milo under irrigation. We also grew dry land wheat.

We raised chickens, had a garden, and had hogs a few times. Our children were all active in 4-H, as both my wife and I were. We all worked on the farm and ranch and hired very little help.

Not too many years after moving to Walsh I helped get the Southeast Colorado Farm Business Association started. It was designed to help farmers keep records on, not only their income and expenses, but also to learn what was making money and what was not.

I also helped organize the Plainsman Agri-Search Foundation, which was an experiment station under the supervision of Colorado State University. We had an advisory board and I sat on the board from its beginning in 1974 until 1999, when it was apparent that someone younger could serve more adequately.

When our son was in high school FFA (Future Farmers of America) I served as a director of that organization.

I also served on the Accountability Committee for the Walsh School District, for 5 years.

After we paid off our FmHA (Farmers Home Administration) loan, I served on their board of directors for several years. During this time with the FmHA we were selected as Farm Family of the year.

My wife and I joined First Baptist Church of Walsh shortly after moving there. This is where I grew deeper in my knowledge and love for God, having placed my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work as a junior in college. I served on the board of deacons for 45 years and as church clerk for 30.

After our kids' marriages they all lived close to us and we were able to see our grandchildren grow up. As time went on they moved away. Christmas of 2008, while visiting in Oklahoma, our youngest daughter saw that we were needing some help and that is what brought about our move to Edmond, Oklahoma—right from the farm.

Our oldest, Pamela Smith and our youngest, Barbara Burson also live in Edmond. Our other daughter, Patricia Daugherty, lives in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, and our son, Robin Nichols lives in Garden City, Kansas. We have 11 grandchildren, ages 20-32, and have 9 greats.

After a long and valiant battle with Alzheimer's, Richard Dean Nichols left all work and striving behind and walked into the arms of Jesus on August 10, 2011. His wit and wisdom will be missed by his friends and family. We carry on knowing that we will all be together again in new bodies and eternal fellowship. Hoping for sooner rather than later.