Edmund V. Nichols, Jr.

PORTAGE – Edmund V. Nichols, Jr., age 76, passed away on Wednesday, November 27, 2019 at Aspirus Hospital in Stevens Point.

Edmund was born on May 9, 1943, in Black River Falls, the son of Edmund and Leona (Riley) Nichols, Sr.  He was a member of the Portage High School, Class of 1962.  Ed married Judy Rietmann, the love of his life and his best friend, on June 6, 1964 at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Portage, of which he was a member.  He proudly served H. Samuels Recycling for 38 years, retiring as the General Manager in 2008.  Ed looked forward to each and every one of his grandchildren’s activities.  You could always find him in the bleachers or the audience beaming with pride. He was an avid NASCAR fan, inspired a love of traveling in all of us, and kept his mind sharp with lots of SUDOKU and jigsaw puzzles. You could always find Ed fixing something, anything.  His handyman skills will be lovingly and selfishly missed.   

He is survived by his loving wife, Judy, of Portage; his daughters, Sue Ann Lilienthal, of Plover, and Debra Lee (Stephen) Janke, of Lomira; his grandchildren, Nicholas Lilienthal, Sydney Lilienthal, Mitchell Janke and Madysen Janke; his brother, Darrell Nichols, of Washington; his nephew, James (Kathy) Nichols, his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law in the Rietmann family, many nieces, nephews, other relatives and many dear friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Jerry Nichols.

Memorial services will be held at 2:30 p.m., on Sunday, December 1, 2019 at the Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage (www.pmmfh.com) with Rev. Rod Armon officiating.  Inurnment will be private.  Visitation will be held from 12:00 noon until 2:15 p.m. on Sunday at the funeral home. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Legion in Ed’s name, to honor his brother, Jerry Nichols, who was a casualty of the Vietnam War, and his grandsons who were very active in American Legion Baseball. 

We love them. We miss them. We grieve them. And so we live our lives to make them proud.