Louis Nicholes

Lou Nicholes

August 31, 1933 – June 30, 2021

On June 30, 2021, Lou Nicholes, age 87, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Jeju Island, South Korea.

Louis Gene was born on August 31, 1933, to Lester and Mary Nicholes in Cutler, Ohio. Lou graduated from Bartlett High School, attended Ohio State University, and received his bachelor’s degree from Philadelphia College of Bible. Before college, Lou was drafted into the United States Army and served for 2 years in Germany. It was on the troopship to Germany that Lou received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior at the age of 21 while in the armed forces. This event established a new direction in his life as he pursued a personal relationship with Christ and spent the rest of his days encouraging and teaching others the good news that Jesus saves and how to personally understand and follow God’s Word. Lou preached in 62 countries and spent over 50 years writing a complete commentary on the Bible written by Lou and published online to use for devotions.

While studying at Philadelphia College of Bible, he met his sweetheart, Thelma Duckels. They were married on June 12, 1960, at Duckels Bible Camp in Chesterfield, IL. In 1962 Lou joined Word of Life International in Schroon Lake, NY. Lou served Word of Life Fellowship for almost 60 years as a pioneer and regional Bible Clubs Director for more the 250 Bible Clubs, developing and directing the Youth Reachout short term mission’s ministry for 2000 young people with 150 of those on the mission field today. Lou established Nicholes Printing where he authored, published, and shipped memory packets. For the past 8 years he has been living on the campus of Word of Life Bible Institute on Jeju Island, South Korea. Lou enjoyed mentoring and counseling students and staff and visited 140 churches meeting with pastors to develop close relationships between the local church and Word of Life Ministries.

Lou is survived by his wife of 61 years, Thelma Nicholes: their children: Steve (Rhonda) Nicholes, Mike (Alicia) Nicholes, and Beth (Chris) Steiner, 11 grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Lou was preceded in death by his parents, Lester and Mary Nicholes, and his brother, Wayne Nicholes.

A Memorial Service will be held at 2 PM on July 17, 2021, at Word of Life Pines Auditorium in Pottersville, NY. The service will be live-streamed, Livestream link: https://vimeo.com/event/1131233/eeeeOcaac1. Interment took place in the Severance Cemetery, Stowell Rd., Schroon Lake, NY.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions will be used to help carry on Lou’s legacy for a website upgrade of https://www.family-times.net/- a complete commentary on the Bible written by Lou and published online to use for devotions. Contributions can be directed to Word of Life Fellowship, PO Box 600, Schroon Lake, NY 12870 earmarked for Lou Nicholes Memorial ID#1HO38C or online at: https://give.wol.org/1H038C.