Gordon Allen Nichols passed away quietly at home early Friday morning, June 2,2023 with his family by his side. He had a wonderfully full life and experiences that people can only dream of.
He was born December 18, 1930, married his high school sweetheart Peggy Lou Parish on May 14, 1951. After serving in the Air Force as a radio communications specialist, Gordon and Peggy started a family in the small town of Markleeville, California and had 2 boys.
After attending the Chicago Institute of Technology, they relocated to Renton Washington to work for Boing, made many lifelong friends, and were blessed with a 3rd boy. After few years, they moved to Bellevue Washington, had another boy and proceeded to raise their 4 boys spanning 13 years apart in age.
Gordon, an Electrical Engineer, was a co-founder of the company Data I/O in the early 70’s and created many of their first products. Some of the production was a family affair as he’d often bring PC board designs home for Peggy and the boys to work on.
Although having a busy work and homelife, Gordon still had time to show the family how to enjoy life to the fullest with boating, fishing, hunting, shooting, sports, camping, skiing, R/C airplanes, SCUBA diving, golfing, car repair, and even a short stint with motorcycles. In the 1976 he took flying lessons with his 3rd son, and both earned pilot’s licenses. He bought his first airplane and after earning his instrument rating, he traded up and enjoyed flying all over the western United States. Gordon and Peggy even flew the plane to Baja California a couple of times.
Gordon was able to retire at the age of 50, achieving 44 years of retirement. With a combination of motorhome or airplane, they were able to follow their 4th son Rob throughout his college baseball career. They had 7 motorhomes over the years, then purchased a park model in Yuma Arizona for a winter home and officially became “Snowbirds” in 1990.
Gordon and Peggy were avid Bridge players and after attaining their “Life Master” ratings, they began teaching Bridge and organizing tournaments on cruise ships, allowing them to go on 27 cruises to destinations all over the world.
After Peggy suffered a stroke, Gordon’s life took a turn as he devoted his life to becoming her full-time care giver for her last 8 years. Even as her memory was fading with Dementia, he stood by her side to provide her with a comfortable, loving life. Peggy passed away on October 14, 2021.
His last year presented a new challenge as he was afflicted with Guillian-Barre Syndrome and lost the ability to walk or stand. He took this affliction in stride, never complained, and was focused on working to recover. His mind still sharp to the end, Gordon always seemed younger than his age.
Gordon is welcomed in the afterlife by his Wife, Peggy Nichols, his mother (Pearl Nichols), father (Owen Nichols), brother (Owen Nichols), and sister (Dorothy Petermeyer).
Gordon is survived by 4 sons and daughters-in-law, Steve (Sue) Nichols, Ric (Joey) Nichols, Greg (Patty) Nichols and Rob (Heather) Nichols. Gordon has 9 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at Atonement Free Lutheran Church, 6905 172nd St NE, Arlington, WA 98223 at 11am on August 26, 2023.
