Dudley Stephen Nichols, Jr., better known as "Steve" to friends and family, 72, died September 8, 2015, in Columbia, SC, following a heart attack and a hard-fought battle to overcome it.

Steve was born in Memphis, TN, on May 8, 1943 to D.S. "Red" and Margaret Nichols. He is survived by his son, Stephen Nichols (and wife Suzanna) of Auburn, Alabama; his daughter, Nici Nichols Comer (and husband Brian) of Columbia, South Carolina; three granddaughters, Ella Grace, Addison McSwain and Eliana; two grandsons, Jasper and Micah; his sister, Jane Nichols of Collierville, Tennessee; and his special friend, Helen Austin. He was preceded in death by his parents, Red and Margaret Nichols.

Being born and raised in Memphis, TN, Steve naturally preferred Motown and Elvis Presley to the British Invasion. He graduated from Southside High School and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Mississippi College. His life''s work was as an educator. At the beginning of his career, he taught in the local Mississippi high schools in Belzoni, Isola, and Louise. He later accepted a teaching position at the Natchez branch of the University of Southern Mississippi. In the mid-seventies, he took a brief reprieve from teaching to open a skilled nursing center, Starkville Manor, in Starkville, MS, where he served as an administrator. Unable to ignore the call of the classroom, he returned to teaching in the Oktibbeha County School System, first at Sturgis High School and later at Armstrong Middle School, Henderson Junior High School and Starkville High School, where he retired from teaching in the public school system. After retiring, he returned to Memphis where he worked as a teacher and administrator at Mid-South Community College in West Memphis, AR.

As a teacher, he was universally loved and admired by his students, his fellow teachers and his administrators. If he was not teaching grammar in two languagesEnglish and Latin, he was taking photographs at school events, running concession stands at sports events or developing photographs and putting together the school''s yearbooks. He traveled as a chaperone for high school band trips, learned to drive a school bus, and, when called on, acted as the coach of the golf team--golf being his nemesis--to fill a need at the high school. He was known for his loud, booming voice, the pipe stuffed in his back pocket, and the faint smell of sweet pipe tobacco that lingered after his departure from a room.

His love of teaching did not stop at the school''s doors. Being an avid fan of the water, he taught hundreds of Starkville''s children and adults to swim through the American Red Cross swimming program. He loved nothing more than torturing his swimming students by making them tread water or float on their backs for extended periods of timehis ultimate concern being their ability to survive a water emergency. He also used his free time to tutor Mississippi State University athletes, working two to three nights a week to help them succeed in English literature and composition classes.

He retired in 2010, choosing a well-deserved, simple life. He moved to Iuka, MS, and bought the boat he had always wanted (but not, fortunately for the rest of us, the Porsche that was second on his list). He split his time between his house in Iuka and his boat on the Tennessee River, where he drank his coffee black and his beer cold. He read, laughed and relaxed with his boating friends on the dock beside his beloved boat, Teacher''s Pet.

Hanging from his wall was always an old Irish blessing that is particularly appropriate as we wish farewell to a father, a brother, a grandfather and a friend. "May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in his palm of His hand."

Services will be held at Forest Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park East, 2440 Whitten Road, Memphis, TN 38133, on Saturday, September 12, 2015, with the visitation commencing at 9:00 am and the funeral service commencing at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to: D.S. Steve'' Nichols, Jr. Memorial Fund St. Jude Children''s Research Hospital 262 Danny Thomas Place Memphis, Tennessee 38105.

http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/GiftFunds/GiftFunds?px=3610715&pg=personal&fr_id=39300

Forest Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park, East
(901) 382-1000