SALUDA — A Celebration of Life Service will be held for Grady Eugene Nichols at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 15, 2013, at Corinth Evangelical Lutheran Church, 638 Corinth Road, Saluda. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 p.m. Thursday evening at Ramey Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Corinth Evangelical Lutheran Church, c/o Connie N. Lake, 406 Kempson Bridge Road, Saluda, SC 29138 or to a charity of one’s choice.

Mr. Nichols, 95, entered into eternal rest on Tuesday, March 12, 2013. He was born Jan. 28, 1918, son of the late Nina Lee Black and Bennie Calhoun Nichols.

He attended O’Neal School in Newberry County. He was a lifelong member of Corinth Evangelical Lutheran Church, being its oldest member at the time of his death. He was a member of the Saluda County Forestry and Cattlemen’s Associations and the Hollywood Ruritan Club. He was one of the founding partners in the Nichols and Longshore dairy farm, being a milking assistant, plowing the fields for new crops, acquiring new cattle for the herd expansion, hauling cows to the market and purchasing new farm equipment.

As a young man, he loved playing basketball, bird hunting and watching the games of baseball. He attributed many of his lifelong skills to his Uncle Rufus Nichols. These traits included tobacco chewing, spending a dollar to make a dollar and developing a keen eye for purchasing land and timber. During World War II, he was the chosen brother, by fate, to remain on the farm to help the family, because his older brothers were serving our country.

Mr. Nichols is survived by a son, Ronnie Michael Nichols, grandsons, Chad Taylor Nichols, William Ryan Nichols, daughters-in-law, JoAnne Hamilton Nichols and Mary Taylor Nichols Coleman (Buddy), brother, James Jacob Nichols (Trudy), sisters, Matilda Catherine Nichols Freeland, Mamie Lee Nichols Longshore, Nellie Louise Nichols Riley and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wives, Ione Sinclair Nichols and Mildred Hare Nichols, his first born son, Gilbert Eugene and brothers, Henry Tillman, Benjamin Roy, Woodrow Wilson, Guy Taylor, Paul Willard, Gilbert Luke, an infant brother, and Joseph Allen, sisters, Annie Rose, and Georgia Fae Nichols Leverett.

The family expresses their gratitude to caregiver, Kendra Tucker for her loving care and patience during these last years.