Donna Ray O'Day Nickels

Donna Ray O'Day Nickels, age 85. died peacefully with family at her side on Saturday evening, June 12, 2021 at Avantara Lake Norden Care Center.

Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 10AM in the First Baptist Church at Clark with Pastor Jim Uthe officiating.  Visitation will be held at the Church 1 hour prior.  Casket bearers will be William Boots Nickels, Luveta Nickels (Steve) Wicks, Danna Nickels Jacobsen, Tracy Nickels (Nick) Aguayo, and Troy Nickels (Becki).  The Honorary Casket bearers will be Adam, Cole, and Casey Nickels, Calli Nickels Dikoff, Dally Jo, McCrae, Owen, Sutton, William and Tyler Nickels, RaeAnn, and Emersyn Dikoff and all of her Nickels and O'Day Nieces and nephews.

A second service will be held Thursday. June 17, 2021 at 5PM in the Isburg Funeral Chapel at Pierre with visitation one hour prior to services.  Cole & Casey Nickels will have a reading with Greg Furness facilitating services.  Burial will follow in the Scotty Philip Cemetery at Fort Pierre.  Calli Nickels Dikoff will sing "In The Garden" at the burial.

Donna Ray O'Day Nickels, 85, was born on March 19, 1936, the sixth child of Ray Herbert O'Day and Lula Clementine (Kerr) O'Day in Pierre, South Dakota in a private home with the assistance of a midwife named Mrs. Evans.  The house was later moved to Ft. Pierre and every time Donna passed that house, she would always point out that it was the house she was born in.

Donna attended elementary school at Cedar Valley Country School.  She then attended and graduated eighth grade from The Flueharty School where they held country dances and box socials every Saturday night.  Donna loved Arithmetic and belonging to Girl Scouts.  Later, her father paid for room and board at a private home so she could attend Bible School.  An early influence on her later chosen profession.

Donna went to movies on Saturday night and went roller skating every Wednesday and Saturday.  It was after roller skating one night, when she was only 13 years old, that a boy she knew offered her a ride home, but instead, he took her to Fort Pierre Hill on the outskirt of town.  When she figured out he had ill intentions, she ran away in the dark back to town.  As fate would have it, she came across a dashing young man named Bill Nickels, who became the love of her life.  He was 23, she was 13.  Donna told the story many times and laughed about their age difference and would say, "You know, if that was today, your father would be in jail".

Donna and Bill dated for three years and finally married on June 1, 1952.  They began their family almost right away and they welcomed their first born, William Boots Nickels, in May of 1953.  Luveta followed, then Danna, Tracy and Troy.

It bothered Donna that she never graduated from high school. As her five young children grew older, she pursued her own personal goals and went back to school.  Not only did she graduate from high school, she also went on to college and graduated in 1999 from Yankton College with her degree in Ministry.

Throughout her life, Donna worked at St. Mary's Hospital, Pierre Indian Learning Center, Stanley County Extension Office, and baked cakes of all kinds for all occasions.  She specialized in elaborate wedding cakes that were works of art.  Her proudest work, however, was for her churches, her work that involved her faith and helping people.  Donna preached for almost 40 years of her life, without and with her degree.  Donna often preached fives services, serving two churches, the nursing home and two care centers.  Pastor Donna was available 24 hours every day to anyone in her perish and many times to those who were not.  She never turned anyone away regardless of who they were, their faith designation or what their problems were.

Donna and Bill were foreign exchange parents for several years and Foster Parents for 45 years.  They also opened their home to country kids who needed a place to live in town to go to school when country schools closed.  Donna operated a daycare for many years as well.  Donna was a very loving, caring, giving woman to all walks of life.  She was a member of the Eastern Star and the Masonic Lodge.

Donna loved baking and cooking.  If you went to her house the first thing she would offer was to get you something to eat.  She loved to travel, even driving to Mexico one year.  She loved to dance.  She had a wicked sense of humor, quick to laugh with you and at herself.  She loved to embroider and in the past year she completed over 100 pillowcase sets and numerous other towels and tablecloth projects.  Additionally, she LOVED grapes and candy.  She had candy stashed anywhere and everywhere; candy dishes in every room, candy in her purse, in her chair side pocket, in jackets she wore, beside her bed, in the car.…..I think you get the idea.

Donna was a very proud strong woman.  She was proud of her personal accomplishments and her family and the memories they all shared.  She loved her family deeply and cherished the close bond between everyone.  Donna's destiny definitely included her being a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

However, the love of her life was that man she met when she was just 13.  That love carried both of them through the bad times and good, through lean years with loss, flourished as their nest emptied, and grew stronger with age.

On a beautiful evening, with the sun fading behind some pines, Donna quietly and calmly slipped away to reunite with her beloved Bill.

Donna was preceded in death by her parents, mother and father-in-law; Frederick and Anna Nickels, all her brothers and sisters in law, Herbert "Bud" (Eileen) O'Day and Robert "Bob" (Donna) O'Day, and sisters, Glenna (Jim) Bohlke, Louise (Jim) Thill, and Marie (Lloyd) Langdeau; a son-in-law Bob "Big Jake" Jacobsen and grandson Derrick Nickels.

Left to cherish her memory and life stories are her children: William Boots Nickels, Luveta Nickels (Steve) Wicks, Danna Nickels Jacobsen, and Tracy Nickels (Nick) Aguayo all of Clark and Troy (Becki) Nickels of Lodgepole, SD.  her grandchildren Adam, Cole, and Casey Nickels, and Calli Nickels Dikoff; great-grandchildren, Dally Jo, McCrae, Owen and Sutton Nickels, RaeAnn and Emersyn Dikoff and William and Tyler Nickels and many nieces and nephews.

Please learn about and support your local Chapter of Alzheimer's

Only love and time woven together will patch our broken hearts.

Just Remember, God Loves You And So Do I

The Furness Funeral Home at Clark is serving the family where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com