Meet your neighbor: Marilyn Nichols

Meet Winfield resident Marilyn Nichols. Marilyn was born in Mt. Pleasant. Her Parents were Maxine Brenneman of Mt. Union. She has an older brother, Bob of Mitchellville, Iowa, and a younger sister, Debbie Remick of Mt. Union.

Marilyn is a 1969 graduate of WMU and NE Missouri State, now called Truman State. Marilyn said her first “real job” (not babysitting or walking the beanfield) was a college summer job writing radio copy for the National Research Bureau in Burlington, Iowa. During her college years, she also made tags for cows’ ears and was a house girl to Mr. and Mrs. Nick Trane, of Trane Air Conditioning Company.

Marilyn met her future husband, David Nichols, when they were both attending a disaster drill at the Burlington Medical Center where David was an accountant and Marilyn worked in medical records.

“We were married a year later, October 17, 1980, in a church in Carpo Park in Burlington. We were married for 43 wonderful years before David passed away in July 2023,” Marilyn said.

Following their wedding, they lived in Burlington before moving to Keokuk where David was employed as the CFO of the hospital. From Keokuk, they moved to Northern Wisconsin where David was CFO of Bloomer Hospital. In 1992, after two years in Wisconsin, Marilyn and David moved back to their roots in Winfield to raise their children. They are: Sarah, who lives in Charlotte, NC; Faith in Gilbert, AZ; and Joshua in Sioux Falls, SD. Marilyn also has two grandchildren, Grant, 10, who lives in AZ, and Breckin, 11, in SD.

“I was lucky to be a stay-at-home mom while the kids were young,” said Marilyn, adding, “after we returned to Winfield, I worked at the school with Jr./Senior High School at-risk kids for eight years. It was wonderful to be at the school alongside my children.”

“As for traveling, I’ve always loved road trips and David, and I took many,” she said. “But in our 50s, we worked together for a company, Holiday Retirement Corp., managing independent senior communities across the country. We would receive an assignment to go to cities from the Dakotas to the east coast, Minneapolis to St. Louis to stay anywhere from two days to six months. We never knew, always an adventure. We loved it, the people we met and places we saw, but the best part was working together. We were on the road eight years before returning to our home in Winfield.”

Marilyn may be retired, but her rocking chair still doesn’t get much use. Besides being active in her church, she works a few hours each week at Sunrise Terrace, enjoys cake decorating, furniture refinishing, counted cross stitch, quilting, reading, flower gardening, and diamond painting and Bible study. These are just some of the hobbies she has enjoyed though the years. A good friend and neighbor, Marilyn is always willing to lend a helping hand or a listening ear when and where needed. While school is in session, she uses sidewalk chalk to write inspirational messages on her sidewalk so kids can read them on their way to school. These are recent examples of her sidewalk messages: “Love One Another,” “Be a Friend,” “Read,” and“Be Kind.”

“I attend the Open Bible Church here where I am presently the worship leader, which means I’m temporarily not playing the drums. We recently acquired a new pastor after our last pastor moved back to Alabama to be with his ailing parents. So, we are in a pastoral transition phase at the moment,” explained Marilyn.

Drums you say. Yes, this grandmother of two taught herself to play the drums at the age of 69. How did she do that?

Marilyn said, “I taught myself to play drums about four years ago after noticing an empty drum kit on stage during a church service and thinking, ‘I can do that.’ I believe who God appoints, He anoints. So I had the courage to try it. I watched a lot of YouTube drum cover videos and played along. My sweet husband in the living room just below my practice room always said I sounded great. (He’s kind). At my age, learning new things is good for the brain.”

When asked what is on her bucket list, Marilyn replied, “My bucket list is easy and doable. It involves an attitude of gratitude, to be content and thankful for my remaining years on this earth. Everything else is whipped cream.”

Marilyn’s advice to youth: “Sunscreen, floss, take advantage of compound interest, never miss an opportunity to do a kindness or share a compliment, smile, look up, be present and know that happiness is an attitude and a choice, not a circumstance.”

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