Albert J. Nicholas

6/26/1919 – 7/6/2011

A.J. Nicholas was born and raised in Frederick, Oklahoma where he attended Weaver High School. He left Frederick to enlist in the Army Air Corp, Dec. 16, 1941. He was sent to Suffridge Field, MI to join the 5th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group. They were sent to England to bolster the Royal Air Force, then left England for Orand, North Africa, where they took part in the invasion and went through the entire North African campaign with the Spitfire aircraft group. A.J. was honorably discharged from the service on July 15, 1945.

After the war, he attended night school where he took classes in Journalism. For a number of years, he worked for the Daily Oklahoman where he met his future wife, Marjorie Ann Fluke. Later A.J. worked at the “other” Oklahoma newspaper, The Oklahoma Journal. For a time, along with his work in the Circulation department at the Journal, he wrote a weekly newspaper column, “Outdoor Oklahoma.” A.J.’s next and final career – law enforcement – endured 30+ years. He joined the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office as a reserve deputy, graduating from the first Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office Reserve Academy, serving his last several years proudly under Sheriff John Whetsel. He served a total of 31 years before finally retiring his badge in 2009. A.J. was a first responder following the Oklahoma City bombing, for which he received a Governor's Medal of Honor. He also received the Mounted Patrol Officer of the Year and the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office Commendation awards.

A.J. was a member of the VFW, Shrine Mounted Patrol, DAV, Elks Lodge, American Legion and was a 32nd Degree Mason. In 2009, he received his 50 year Masonic Blue Lodge pin in a ceremony in Jones, OK.

The oldest of eight siblings, A.J. was preceded in death by his parents Arthur and Anna Nicholas, an infant brother Arthur Jr., brother Edward T. Nicholas, oldest daughter, Marilyn Martin Nelson McCulley, and sisters Norene "Jan" Dick, Abilene "Nell" Kubat, and Anna Gayle Quinlan. He outlived his beloved white horse, Speck, who died of old age in 1999. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marjorie Ann, son Daryl Nicholas, daughters Susan Carol Nicholas and Cheryl Ann Ottman, three sisters, Betty Brown, Shirley Hill, and Mary Patchell, granddaughters, Amber Shay Sleeper and her husband Steven, Amy Suzanne Fritts and her husband David, and Justy Lee DeBerry and her husband Scott, three great-grandsons, Jacob Nicholas Sleeper, Eli Christian Fritts, and Lane Ryan Sleeper, and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews, who thought of him as the patriarch of the family.

The Nicholas family is grateful for the support of all the staff at Valir Hospice, the staff at the Veteran's Center in Norman, and all of their family and special friends who have been with them on this journey.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in A.J.'s honor to the Jimmy Everest Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Children, 1200 N. Phillips Avenue, Suite 10000, OKC, OK 73104 (405) 271-4412.

Funeral Service will be 2:00 p.m., Saturday, July 9, 2011, at Baggerley Funeral Home Chapel, 930 South Broadway, Edmond, OK. Interment will be at Memorial Park Cemetery.