FORT SILL, Oklahoma (Aug. 17, 2018) -- Retired Staff Sgt. James Nichols of Lawton became a member of an exclusive club when the Lawton-Fort Sill Veterans Center celebrated his 100th birthday Aug. 9.
He was born on that same date in 1918, in Benton, Tenn., to Oliver and Maggie (Prater) Nichols.
He is the only surviving child of the five born to them. However, all three of his children, one of his four grandchildren and three of his four great-grandchildren all made it to the big party the center threw for him in the Green Wing.
His children are Helen Edwards, Edward Nichols, and Elizabeth Richardson, all of Lawton. He met their mother, the former Marie Jeanne Hendrickx, at a café run by a family member while he was stationed overseas with the Army during World War II. They were married in Scherpendeuvel, Belgium, in 1945 and had 42 years together before her death in 1987.
"He was in the engineers in World War II, and I think in the Korean War as well. So he went first, to build the bridges and things. That's what he used to tell us," Richardson said.
"I think it's amazing" that he reached this milestone, she said.
Nichols came to Lawton when the Army sent him to Fort Sill in 1959.
He retired from the Army while serving here in 1965 and has lived in Lawton ever since.
He also has lived in Tennessee, New Jersey, Georgia, and Michigan. He traveled to Europe and Korea while in the Army. He has lived at the Lawton-Fort Sill Veterans Center since 2004.
Richardson's daughter and Nichols' granddaughter, Christa Bishop of Lawton, brought her 7-year-old daughter, Madison, and her 6-year-old twin sons, Connor and Blake, to see their great-grandfather pass the century mark. They will start school Aug. 15 at Flower Mound School.
Marilyn Woods, center recreation director, and Sue Scott with Centenarians of Oklahoma presented Nichols with a button and a certificate recognizing him as inductee No. 2228 in Centenarians of Oklahoma.
According to a bio that Woods furnished, his favorite song is "Amazing Grace." He attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Lawton. He has cherished memories of listening to his father play the banjo. Drawing, reading, playing harmonica, and spending time with grandchildren are his hobbies.
After retiring from the military, he worked as a barber for many years giving thousands of raw recruits their first buzz cut.
His favorite time of the year is autumn because it is cooler and such a beautiful time of the year. His most loved foods are beans and cornbread.
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