John Earl Nikolic

John was born on October 17, 1942, in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was the son of Pearl Clinton and John C. Nikolic and stepfather Dewey Richard Clinton.

John came to Pearl with his mother, Pearl May Clinton, his stepfather, Dewey, and his brother, Charles Nikolic, in 1957 from Rawls Springs, Mississippi, a town located just north of Hattiesburg, MS.

John graduated from Pearl High School in Pearl, MS in 1960, attended Mississippi State University and graduated from Millsaps College in 1966. He completed a portion of his graduate work at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, and he attended Harvard University, two northern California Community colleges—Foothill Community College and De Anza College.

John loved Elvis Presley and Rock and Roll Music from the 1950’s and 60’s. He even acquired a Wurlitzer Juke Box to play this music at reunions and various events.

John was a devout Christian and a member of Park Place Baptist Church in Pearl, Mississippi, where his pastor was Dr. Keith Grubbs. He tried to improve himself through the constant renewing of his mind led by the Holy Spirit and he prayed frequently for the gift of discernment. He believed that salvation referred to “justification” of oneself, that “sanctification” was the continual improvement of himself by the Holy Spirit, and that “glorification” would come at the stage when he died and went to be with the Lord. Earlier, he and his mother were members of McLaurin Heights Baptist Church in Pearl where Pastor at that time was Brother Steve Jackson. John and his mother joined there in 1998. After his mother’s passing, John joined Park Place Baptist Church in 2017. He has been an active member at PPBC since 2016. Some of his many friends included Rickey and Judy Grissom, along with their children and grandchildren.

John liked to listen to and study the sermons of many pastors and evangelists such as Charles Stanley, Adrian Rogers, John Hagee, Fred Price, T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyers, Robert Jeffress, Robert Morris and David Jeremiah. Still further, he was a student of all things Jewish and Bible Prophecy. He spent many hours with the Bible and followed such scholars as Chuck Messier, Perry Stone, David Jeremiah, Joel Richardson, and Randall Price regarding the possible re-building of the temple in Jerusalem. He enjoyed discussing prophecy with his many friends, especially those from his Sunday School class and those from his high school days. He had three great friends from high school: Allen Stephens (now deceased), Gerald Lester and Billy Greer.

John authored an autobiography entitled Looking Back which was published by Trilogy Publishing Company in 2020 and he authored an Old Testament study guide called From Here Through Eternity. This second book was written as a study guide and contained quizzes on each of the 39 Old Testament Books with a supplemental Answer guide.

John loved his daily runs, and for 24 years and 9 months straight, he jogged consecutive days without missing a single day. He was ranked in the top 100 runners in the U.S. in this regard. He was covered in several newspapers for his running accomplishments and was a “Torchbearer” for the 1996 Olympics. He jogged in sixty-three countries, while travelling around the world. He even had a race with the Russian Army in Moscow along the Moscow River, and won. He jogged a portion of the Great Wall of China, the Coliseum in Rome, the Olympic Stadium in Greece and such cities and countries as Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Atlanta, Miami, London, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Munich, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok, New Delhi, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Petra, The Sahara Desert, Helsinki, Oslo, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Alaska, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Colorado Springs, Palo Alto, Houston, Pittsburg, Lisbon, and many others once or twice.

He enjoyed high school, collegiate, and professional sports beyond belief. He maintained his own sports journals and professional records for athletes. For instance, at any time, he could tell you who the top 25 professional career homerun hitters were and how many home runs they had. His mother, Pearl Clinton, his brother, Charles, and his sister, Joyce Evans, as well as his deceased stepbrother, Roy Clinton, were all special to him. Another special love of John’s was his and his mother’s Chow, Dusty. They were inseparable, and Dusty went on daily walks with John for over 12 years.

John was always proud that he got to compile a report for President Ronald Reagan regarding the Japanese challenge to America in the 1980’s. The Chairman of Motorola, Bob Galvin, was also the Chairman of President Reagan’s Business Roundtable. President Reagan therefore asked Mr. Galvin to develop the report and Mr. Galvin asked John to put it together. He did.

He was an avid Bridge player for over thirty years, playing duplicate bridge at the Jackson Bridge Association in Flowood, MS. His regular partner was Linda Crotwell of Morton, MS. They won several tournaments together and qualified for the North American Pairs Championship held in New Orleans. His alternate partner was Dave Bledsoe from Brandon, MS, and his occasional life-master partner, Norma Dotson. In his late seventies, John turned to playing bridge at the Pearl, MS Senior Center, as well as the Brandon Center for social bridge. He really enjoyed bridge and worked diligently to become accomplished at it.

John was preceded in death by his mother, Pearl Clinton, stepfather, Dewey Clinton, brothers Charles Nikolic and Roy Clinton, sister-in-law Nora Holder Nikolic, and brother-in-law Steve Evans.

He is survived by his only sister, Joyce Evans of Florence, MS.

Services to celebrate his life are being held at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl, Mississippi. Visitation will be Friday, October 12, 2023, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with funeral services following at 1 p.m. at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home, which will be officiated by Dr. Keith Grubbs. Burial will be at the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Pearl, MS.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial donation may be made in John’s memory to Park Place Baptist Church, 5701 Hwy 80 East, Pearl, MS 39208.