Arland Claude Nichols Jr.

Nick was born on July 15, 1949, to Arland C. Nichols, Sr. and Mary Josephine Kunze in San Antonio, Texas. With his father stationed at Landsberg Air Base, Nick spent part of his youth in Germany before returning to San Antonio. After Nick graduated from Highlands High School in 1967, he went on to study at St. Mary’s University receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with a minor in Spanish and Divinity.

After graduating from St. Mary’s in 1972, Nick attended Assumption Seminary and was ordained a Catholic priest April 18, 1975, working for the Archdiocese of San Antonio until 1977. Upon leaving the priesthood, he began working at Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio with adolescent children in the psychiatric ward. This kickstarted a 40+ year career in children’s behavioral and social adjustment efforts. Along the way, he received a Master of Education with a concentration in Special Education from Incarnate Word College [University] in 1984. He also worked for the Lubbock State School and would retire from Lubbock Independent School District as a Special Education teacher and Behavioral Specialist. He did his continuing education, guest lectured, consulted and taught at Texas Tech University’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human Sciences and the Burkhart Center for Autism Education & Research. Fluent in Spanish, Nick would always take the time to communicate with his fellow Spanish-speaking parishioners, colleagues, staff and students to be inclusive and make them feel more comfortable. He had a long and accredited career of service to others and enjoyed his time working and helping children who struggled both mentally and emotionally. The highlight of his career was having students he mentored return to him as full-grown thriving adults.

In 1977, Nick met Sandra Lee Johnstone of Sanford, Maine at Santa Rosa Hospital. They were married May 5, 1978, and celebrated 24 years of marriage before Sandra passed away in 2002. Nick and Sandra have one child, Anne Cathleen Rector (née Nichols).

In 2014, Nick retired and spent his time reading, playing and producing music as well as enjoying movies with his granddaughters. Nick was a ferocious reader, loved all types of music and enjoyed Sci Fi movies. His library included authors such as Teilhard De Chardin, Gary Larson, James Redfield and Piers Anthony. At age 5, Nick began playing the accordion, and became a self-taught musician with the piano being his most favorite instrument. He was able to pick up any instrument and play it well: violin, guitar, lute, ukulele and various woodwind instruments. He loved to boast about his musical collection saying he had over 100,000 songs downloaded on his computer alone. The Moody Blues, ELO, John Williams, the Bee Gees, Constance Demby, and ABBA were some of his favorite artists. He could often be found watching Babylon 5 or Star Trek marathons on television, and he would regularly go to the movie theater with his granddaughters. It should also be noted, that even in retirement Nick was still implementing process improvements, action planning strategies and lesson plans while living at his assisted living facility. He enjoyed working with the staff to design resident meetings, lectures and even holiday choir performances where he would play the piano and sing. A devout Catholic his entire life, Nick never forgot that respect, devotion and service to others is the nucleus and zenith to being a Christian.

His granddaughter Elise said he always had a smile on his face, and always was interested in all the activities she and her sister were involved in. Granddaughter Cecily will remember her “Bapa” as always making her laugh, and that he was generous and smart. When strangers would comment on what a wonderful person Nick was, his daughter Anne would always describe how he had that same kindness and patience his entire life. He truly was a wonderful human being, and everyone around him felt his love and positivity in his presence. He’d often say “You can’t afford negative thoughts” and he truly lived his life by that motto.

Nick was preceded in death by his wife, Sandra, mother and father, Arland and Mary, godmother, Lillian Daura, and godfather S. Alfred Kunze. He is survived by his daughter Anne, son-in-law, Jerad (Frisco) and granddaughters Elise and Cecily; his sisters Mary Anne Armbruster, her husband Kelly (La Vernia) and children Bonner, David, Cody and Sara; Margaret Lynch, her husband Glenn (La Vernia) and children Ashley and Gage; bothers Daniel Nichols, Sr. (La Vernia) and son Daniel Jr.; Alfred Nichols, his wife Barbara (La Vernia) and children Matthew, Michelle, Michelle and Amanda; Patrick Nichols, his wife Katherine “Kathy” (China Grove) and daughters Nicole and Krystal; John Nichols, his wife Jody (Adkins) and children Brody and Cooper; Andrew Nichols (San Antonio) and many grand nieces and nephews.

Graveside services will be held in Lubbock at Resthaven Funeral Home and Memorial Park on Friday, May 3 at 10AM.