With sadness we share the news of the death of William Laud "Bill" Nikel, 89, on March 1, 2018, peacefully in his sleep at home. Bill was a long-time member of the Convention Arrangements Committee, and also served on the Christian Education Committee. A service in his memory will be held on March 10, 2018, 2 PM at St. John's Church in Montclair.
Born in Colorado, Bill's family moved east several years later and he grew up in Boonton, NJ. He started his first business at age 14 as a Fuller Brush dealer, selling and delivering by bicycle. He received a B.A. in Economics in 1947 from Ursinus College. During the Korean War he served as a Naval Intelligence Reserve Officer from 1950 to 1952. In 1954 he earned an MBA in Marketing at the Wharton School in 1954, graduating in the top fifth of the class. He became Marketing Research Manager at Noland Company, a plumbing/heating and industrial supply distributor in Newport News, VA. Active in the community, he served on the board of the Virginia Peninsula Homebuilders Association.
In 1953, he married Nola Ann Lloyd at St. James Episcopal Church in Evansburg, PA. In 1966, the Nikel family moved to Montclair, NJ and joined St. John's Church. Bill served four terms on the vestry, was a lay reader and a chalice bearer, and was known for welcoming newcomers. At the Episcopal Diocese of Newark's annual convention, he served as an elected deputy three times, and as a volunteer ten times. He also was a volunteer at Episcopal Church General Gonventions in Philadelphia and Denver. An active alumnus of Ursinus College, he co-chaired five class reunions as well as the War Years Reunion of multiple classes.
In his career, Bill transitioned from marketing research to management consulting and presenting at marketing workshops. In 1977, after attending a two-week workshop by the author of "What Color Is Your Parachute," he began doing career development and job search counseling, and became a charter member of the Association of Career Management Professionals. In 1988, he co-founded Job Seekers of Montclair, NJ, a free training and support group that still meets weekly at an Episcopal Church, and has helped hundreds of people.
In 1998, Bill and Nola moved to Crane's Mill, a continuing care retirement community in West Caldwell NJ, where he joined the Chorus and the Activities Committee, and also served a one-year term on the Residents Association board. His hobbies and interests included playing tenor saxophone, choral singing, hiking, cross country skiing, bicycling, and working out in the gym. He also enjoyed volunteering at the NJ Performing Arts Center in Newark.
Bill is survived by his beloved wife, Nola, and four children: David and his wife Elizabeth, and their children Patrick and Matthew; Andrew and his wife Jennifer, and their children Ben and Peter; Nell Wills and her husband Jim, and their daughter Heather; and Julie Valentine and her husband Rodney, and their children Cooper, Chloe, and Tess.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made Bill's memory to St. John's Episcopal Church, 59 Montclair Avenue, Montclair NJ 07042 or to Lutheran Social Ministries of NJ, 3 Manhattan Drive, Burlington NJ 08016.
Condolences may be posted on the Codey & Jones Funeral Home website.
God, our Father, we thank you that you have made each of us in your own image, and given us gifts and talents with which to serve you. We thank you for Bill, the time we shared with him, the good we saw in him, the love we received from him. Now give us strength and courage, to leave him in your care, confident in your promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
