H. Joe Nichols Obituary

H. Joe Nichols, 82, of Albany, GA and Enterprise, Al, died Friday evening at his residence in Albany following an illness.The funeral service will be Tuesday, 3 PM, First Baptist Church. Interment will be in Crown Hill Cemetery with Masonic Rites. Dr. G. Lance Hogan will officiate.Mr. Nichols was born in Panama City, FL, December 14, 1925, attended elementary, junior high and through the 11th grade in Thomasville, then graduated from Albany High School in 1943. Joe was a veteran of WWII having served in the US Navy. After his service in the Navy he graduated from Mercer University with a degree in Business Administration, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He was a member and Past Exalted Ruler of B.P.O.E. Elks Lodge #713, a member and past Master of Triangle Lodge #708 F. & A. M., a 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, a York Rite Mason, and a member and past Potentate of Hasan Shrine Temple. He was also a member and Past Director of the Royal Order of Jesters, Court#159, Knighted Royal Order of Scotland. Mr. Nichols was also a member and past President of the Albany Shrine Club, a member of the Hasan Shrine Temple Flying Fezzes, flying critically burned victims to Shrine Burn Institutes, and a member of the Temple Van Transportation Unit , transporting patients to Shrine Orthopedic Hospitals. He was a Past President of the Georgia Shrine Association, Past Commander of Hasan Temple's Legion of Honor, and a Past President of Hasan Temple's Escort Unit. Mr. Nichols served as a member of the Scottish Rite Hospital Child Care Committee in Atlanta and as a director of the Scottish Rite Foundation of Georgia.Mr. Nichols was a past president and member, since 1950, of the Exchange Club of Albany and was recognized as the 1998 -1999 Millard A. Beckum Outstanding Club President of the Georgia District Exchange Clubs. He was also a member of the State of Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Georgia Association of Conservation District Supervisors, and served as president of the Golden Triangle Resource Conservation and Development Council from 1995 to 2006. Mr. Nichols was inducted into the Georgia Association of Conservation District Supervisors Hall of Fame in 2008. He was the 1985 Dougherty County Conservation Man of the Year and received the 1981 Woodman of the World Conservation Award.Music was always an important part of Joe's life. His band, Joe Nichols and his Five Pennies, played throughout the southeast. Later he was a vocalist and saxophone player with the Albert Murphy Orchestra and the Dave Mercer Band. He was a charter member of Central Baptist Church and served as Central Baptist Church's first Minister of Music. He was a member of First Baptist Church where he was a member of the choir. He was Imperial Vocalist for Shrine of North America, Convention Vocalist for the National Association of Conservation Districts, and Convention Vocalist for the National Exchange Clubs. He served as Emcee and host for the Southwest Georgia segment of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Labor Day Telethon from 1983 to 1987..He married the late Dorris E. "Dot" Wilder on December 15, 1946, who died January 15, 2002. He is also preceded in death by a daughter, Renae Nichols Simon Wallace and a son, Lance Jay Nichols.Survivors include his wife Frances D. Nichols of Albany and Enterprise, AL; 3 sons, H. J. 'Skip' Nichols, Jr. (Lavon) of Albany, Larry W. Nichols (Judy) of Atlanta, and Scott Keith Nichols (Diane) of Albany; 2 daughters, Lisa Faye Nichols (Ben) of Jacksonville, FL, and Sheryl Nichols Giles (Joe) of Albany; step children, Neal Nichols (March) of Enterprise, Al, and Charlotte N. Griffin (Gordon) of Enterprise, AL; 19 grandchildren, 6 step grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, and 6 step great grandchildren.Those desiring please make memorials to Albany Community Hospice, Masonic Children's Home of Georgia, National Exchange Club for Prevention of Child Abuse, Shriners Children's Hos

H. Joe Nichols Obituary

December 14, 1925 - February 1, 2008