David Ike Nichols

Beloved father and husband, David Ike Nichols, returned to the arms of his Heavenly Father on the morning of January, 26th, 2020. He was 67 years old.

Daddy was born in Rupert, Idaho on April 14, 1953 to William Campbell Nichols and Eva Elizabeth Williams. He was the 5th of 6 children. Growing up in the country, David spent a lot of time helping his parents on the farm, driving tractors, bailing hay, taking care of the animals, and gardening. Some of his favorite pastimes were playing backyard football with his brothers and the board game Monopoly with anyone who would play. Dad graduated from Minico High School and attended a year of college before serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Pennsylvania.

After faithfully serving his mission, David returned to Rupert and met the love of his life and our mother, Jackie Lynn Jensen. It was their shared love of Mormon Tabernacle Choir records that brought them together. Mom always liked to tell us that she was waiting for a return missionary and wasn't interested in other men, but dad swept her off her feet. They were sealed for time and eternity on February 23rd, 1978 in the Ogden, Utah LDS temple. They began their life together in Rupert and had four children: Lindsay, Tiffany, and twins Kara and Kacy.

Dad had various occupations in his life. He loved airplanes and wanted very much to be a pilot. He was taking steps to get a pilot's license, but that dream was never brought to fruition. He was a dairy farmer with his father until his parents sold the cows. He worked for a furniture store until a refrigerator fell over top of him down a flight of stairs. After that, his health was never the same. Upon recovering, dad became a bus driver for the Minidoka County School District, a job he had until he retired. Dad was an excellent bus driver. He often competed in bus rodeos where he won several trophies. He liked to use his loud speaker to hold fashion shows for kids as they walked down the aisle to their seats. We often heard from classmates how much they liked having dad drive their bus.

The occupation dad was most proud of was that of being a grandpa. From the first grandchild to the last, he spoiled them rotten. He loved to give them ice cream and popsicles. He kept a drawer of candy by his bedside that the grandkids could always count on being stocked with goodies. He would often take them to the park and to the store, and they loved going anywhere they could with him. After their children grew up and moved to Pocatello, dad and mom moved there as well, to be closer to them and the grandchildren.

Dad was an avid photographer. He loved using a camcorder to take videos of the family on camping trips, Christmas mornings, or other special events. He has a vast collection of photographs that span decades, photos and videos we wouldn't have if he didn't love to capture the simple moments of life.

David is preceded in death by his father William, mother Eva, and older brother, Billy. He is survived by his wife Jackie, children Lindsay (TJ) Allen of Pocatello, Tiffany (Adam) Waggoner of Pocatello, Kara (Jared) McCurdy of Wendell, and Kacy (Deidra) Nichols of Blackfoot, as well as siblings Ann, Tom, Camille, and Doug. The largest piece of his heart belonged to his grandchildren: Rowdy, Eli, Ethan, Joseph, Kaiya, Aubrey, Phoenix, Roman, Liberty, Uriah, Jordyn, Bonnie, KyLee, Eva, Rohan, Jayson, Brooklynn, and Deklyn. The family would like to thank the Pocatello emergency responders and Wilk's Funeral Home for their professionalism and kindness to us during this time. Dad did not wish to have any public services, so the family will be holding a private life celebration for him in the future. To help cover end-of-life expenses, a GoFundMe account has been set up for mom at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-needed-for-david-nichols-funeral-expenses?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

No services are planned at this time for David.

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