Parcourez la nécrologie de Chuck Nicholls 1953 2024 70 Years Old résidant dans la province Alberta pour le détail des funérailles.
Chuck Nicholls Obituary
Albert Charles «Chuck» Nicholls passed away peacefully at Lacombe Community Hospital overnight on Saturday with his wife of 50 years by his side, following a short battle with Pancreatic Cancer. He was 70 years old. He is survived by the love of his life, Marilyn, and their two children, Cori (Cameron) and Mark (Dana) and his grandchildren Kayden, Kiara, Audrey and Sophia. He also leaves behind his sister, Kim (Dan) Commerford and brother, Tavis Nicholls, and his beloved nieces Jessica (Brad) and Stacy (Dan) and their children. He was predeceased by his parents, Ronald and June Nicholls, father-in-law, Roy Fraser and brother-in-law David Fraser.
Chuck was born in Montreal, Quebec in November 1953 and spent his childhood on Royal Canadian Air Forces bases around the world, including postings to France, Belgium and Sardinia. At 12, he nearly lost his life when a campfire accident caused him to suffer burns to the majority of his body. He left high school at 16 to join the Canadian Armed Forces and carry out the family tradition of military service. He worked as a weapons Technician in the Royal Canadian Electrical Mechanical Engineers (RCEME) regiment, eventually achieving the rank of Corporal.
In 1973, while posted to Edmonton, Alberta with the military, he met Marilyn Fraser and their love story began. They were married in the fall of 1973 and then were posted to Shilo, Manitoba, where Marilyn held down the fort while Chuck was deployed to Egypt as a United Nations Peacekeeper in the conflict in the Golan Heights in 1974. A month before the birth of his daughter, Cori, in late 1976, he chose to retire from the military and their new family relocated to Marilyn’s hometown of Provost, Alberta. His civilian life started with fatherhood and a journeyman ticket in Agricultural Mechanics. In 1978, his son Mark was born. His next journeyman ticket in Locksmithing brought him to start Nicholls Lock and Key and fuelled his passion for all things Lock that persisted to the very end.
In 1982, the family moved to Wainwright, Alberta, where Chuck started Wainwright Lock and Key. For several years, the business was a mainstay in the town and evolved to reflect the needs of the area – adding trophies and engraving, bike repair, used book sales and a tattoo parlour. There was nothing that he believed he couldn’t learn and excel at if he found a need for it. Throughout the 1980s, he was a volunteer firefighter with the Wainwright Fire Department. After selling the business, he went on to work for Superior Propane first as a bulk truck driver and was later transferred to Red Deer as Operations Supervisor, relocating the family to Lacombe in 1989.
Chuck always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit and always dreamed of owning a secondhand store so he could take on his love of garage sales and auctions and build a career on it. He was always looking at listings of stores for sale in Alberta and BC. When he was laid off from Superior in the middle-management layoffs of 1993, he took full advantage of a startup program offered by the federal government and started Lacombe Secondhand and Lacombe Locksmith, on Highway 12. For 20+ years, Chuck and Marilyn ran their successful business from that location, later evolving into an antique mall when the physical effects of aging made the pace of keeping a secondhand store difficult. December 2016, he retired.
But if you think that would slow him down, you’d be mistaken. Chuck and Marilyn embarked on two cross-country adventures in their RV – seeing locations across Canada and the USA that they had always dreamed of seeing together. He filled his spare time collecting padlocks, riding his motorcycle, and being involved with the local Veteran’s group.
He travelled the world. He swam in the Mediterranean making friends with the octopi. He rode every curve a little too fast on his bike and he loved weaving through the mountains or zipping down to the Sturgis Bike Rally. He enjoyed his grandchildren immensely and each of them has special memories of skills he taught them. He didn’t believe anything was beyond his ability. He loved pretty much everything about locks. He couldn’t get enough of his motorcycles. He skydived with his children. He instilled a curiosity and love of lifelong learning in his entire family. He lived hard. He loved hard. He deserved better than a late diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer. He fought to the bitter end and never let it kill who he was at his very core. Even at the end – he left us with memories that will make us smile forever.
Chuck did not wish to have a funeral. His family encourages everyone to enjoy some bacon or ice cream in his memory and remember a time he made you smile with his unique observations. He is now riding his dream motorcycle through the stars. Next time you spot a shooting star, wish him a safe journey.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to either a Veteran’s Food Bank wherever you live or toward any organization seeking an early diagnosis solution to Pancreatic Cancer.
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1953 2024 70 Years Old
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Chuck Nicholls 1953 2024 70 Years Old..
Décès pour la Ville: Lacombe, Province: Alberta
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necrologie Chuck Nicholls 1953 2024 70 Years Old
Nous offrons nos plus sincères condoléances à la famille et aux amis de Chuck Nicholls 1953 2024 70 Years Old et espérons que leur mémoire pourra être une source de réconfort pendant cette période difficile. Vos pensées et vos mots aimables sont grandement appréciés.