David Nickell

David Nickell, of Oklahoma City, died Thursday, March 24, 2016. A memorial service will be held at 12:00 p.m., Saturday, April 2, at Edmond Trinity Christian Church, 1400 NW 178th Street in Edmond. He will be laid to rest at Cherokee Municipal Cemetery at a later date. David was born on April 10, 1951 in Oklahoma City. He lived in Chandler, Oklahoma, with his mother and grandparents for nearly two years, while his father was serving with the Oklahoma National Guard in Korea. David's family then returned to Cherokee, Oklahoma, where they had previously resided. David graduated from Cherokee High School in 1969. He enrolled at The University of Oklahoma, where he graduated with a degree in Political Science. David remained an avid OU fan for the rest of his life and maintained friendships with several of his fellow "politicos." Following college, David worked in several political campaigns and non-profit organizations based on his life-long passion for following political issues and advancing social justice causes. David made a mid-life decision to return to pursue his master's degree in Clinical Social Work, graduating from The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in 2009. This led him to a career that he valued as his life's purpose. He worked with military families at Tinker Air Force Base, then for the last four years at the Veterans Administration, counseling veterans on issues of homelessness and substance abuse. David's other great passion was his church and the family he found there. He was a member of the First Christian Church in Oklahoma City for several years. In recent years he found a church home at Edmond Trinity Christian Church, where he felt he could both grow and minister in the values most important to him—faith, social justice and Christ's unconditional love. David was preceded in death by his parents, Betty Nickell and Ellis H. Nickell; and by his beloved nephew, John Robert Roby. He is survived by his sister and her husband, Nancy and Jim Roby, niece Claire Roby Farr and nephew Brad Roby. Memorials may be made to Amazing Grace Medical Equipment in Shawnee, Oklahoma, an organization that refurbishes donated durable medical equipment, such as motorized wheelchairs, and distributes it to disabled persons not otherwise able to obtain the needed equipment. Amazing Grace Medical Equipment can be reached at (405) 905-6459 or 5800 Earl Dr., Shawnee OK 74804.