John Grady Nichols

Born in Rabun County on September 11, 1948, John Grady Nichols was the son of the late John Henry Nichols and Grace Keener Nichols. He had two sisters, Lavalda Smith and the late Naomi Whitmire, both of the Persimmon Community. He was a lifelong member of the King Memorial Community Church.

He attended the old Persimmon School and later graduated, in 1966, from Rabun County High School. By his own admission, he was not a traditional scholar, a factor exacerbated by his occasion to forego class attendance for hunting and fishing trips. Similarly, he was not above giving fresh venison or a mesh of freshly caught trout to his teachers if he thought it might help his grades.

He married Shirley Thompson in 1967. Over the course of 47 years of marriage, they were blessed with three children: John Nichols, Will Nichols and Amy Nichols Jarrard, and nine grandchildren: Jenna Freeman, Tate Nichols, Rachel Nichols, Julia Nichols, Tanner Jarrard, John Nichols III, Brody Jarrard, Carver Jarrard, and, by marriage, Dakota Freeman.

Grady operated his own logging contraction company called Nichols' Logging and Hogging. He preferred John Deere equipment and Husgvarna chainsaws. There was a rumor that he once used a Stihl chainsaw but no photos were found and all the eyewitnesses later recanted.

An avid fisherman, Grady was almost always able the coax a trout out of any creek on Persimmon and, as his friends and family would attest, he loved deer hunting. Anyone having the misfortune to discover their cornfield infested with wild hogs knew that Grady was the man with the knowledge and the dogs to remedy the situation.

Spending time with family was always a priority: picnics on Tallulah River, weekends in the Smokey Mountains, family dinners, hunting trips, and various and sundry sporting events where at least one of his grandchildren was a star.
Papa, we love you.

Funeral services were held at 11:00 AM, Monday, October 6, 2014 in the chapel of Beck Funeral Home. Burial followed in the Blalock Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Richards Kids Inc., 47 Deer Creek Trail, Clayton, GA 30525 in memory of Grady.

Beck Funeral Home, in Clayton, Georgia, is in charge of the arrangements. If there are any questions, please call 706-782-9599. An online Memorial Register Book is available at www.beckfuneralhome.com.