Owyhee Avalanche Feature

Wade and Marie Nichols mark seven decades together
From the June 17, 2009 issue of The Owyhee Avalanche

Some people find their mate at a school dance, some find them after many years. Marie Nichols found husband Wade on a scavenger hunt in Nyssa.
It turns out it was a good find, too. They’ve been married 70 years, and celebrated their anniversary Saturday at the Homedale Senior Center in the company of friends and family; children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
The guides say to find something made of titanium (in the U.S.) or platinum (in Europe) to celebrate the milestone. No matter what rare metal is involved, the really spectacular gift is the 70 years Wade and Marie Nichols have shared in their married life.
The Nichols, married in 1939, are residents of Homedale and met, as mentioned, at a scavenger hunt put on by a friend. Marie graduated Nyssa High School in 1939, as did Wade in 1934.
“I thought he was very polite and very nice,” Marie remembered. “I liked him. He was a gentleman and we got along fine.”
After 70 years, they’re still getting along fine.
Once married, the pair spent seven years in Nevada while Wade worked at the Cordero Mine in the Opalite district. That mine, discovered in 1929 but largely ignored until the outbreak of World War II, became the largest producer of mercury in Nevada and a crucial supplier for wartime manufacturing after 1941, according to Castor and Ferdock’s Minerals of Nevada. Following their years in Nevada, the pair moved to Homedale and have been here ever since.
Wade worked as a building contractor for many of those years, and Marie remembers that period as among the brightest ones of their married life. Partnered with Elmer Frank, the business was so successful, and there were so many contracts, that, at Frannk’s suggestion, the partners split and each formed their own companies. Wade took on his sons Glenn and Ken to help, and business boomed, Marie said.
Glenn is a New York Life agent now, and built the Boise building his office is located in, she said. Ken is the manager of the Golden Glow Towers in Nampa.
The roughest time occurred in the middle of their married life, she said, when Wade had to have hip surgery on both hips. “That was tough,” she said. “That was probably one of the most trying ordeals.”
“If we ever have some sad moments, it’s the ones that are gone,” Marie said, thinking of the friends and relatives they have lost over the years. All of Wade’s siblings, but for his younger sister, have passed away; Marie’s siblings are still around, except for a brother, she said.
Wade and Marie hit the open road for recreation for years, whether by RV or motorbike, or waterskiing on the Snake River, but age has an impact on hobbies, she said. “Those kinds of things are harder.” Age forced compromises, and RV explorations across the country had to be curtailed. “We tend to be at home,” she said. “Though we have our ‘good friends club’. We meet once a month and that’s a joy.”
Wade celebrates his 93rd birthday in July, and Marie is 88.
The pair raised their boys here, and looking back, Marie said the town had been a good place to do so.
“It was OK to raise kids here,” she said, even if the schools at the time “might not have had so many nice things as other schools have.
“We love Homedale,” she said simply. Her sons have asked Wade and Marie repeatedly not to sell their Homedale home, as they might want to move back into it, she said with a laugh.
“I think, when they both retire, they’ll end up back in Homedale,” she said.
In a world where all too often people seem unable to hold a marriage together, Wade and Marie stand out. The Owyhee Avalanche asked what their secret was.
“Love,” Marie said. “Can I give you one word? Love. I’d have married him sooner if I could. There’s nobody like him, and I’m truly and madly in love with him.”
The Avalanche wondered if Marie had any advice for newlyweds, or just for those looking for the long haul.
“Tell them that there’s going to be bumps in the road, and what we did. We kicked them to one side, picked up the pieces and ran,” she said. “You learn how to live with them. Everything isn’t absolutely perfect. You get through together. Try to be loving and kind and see the other person’s problem, and work it out together.
“Try to do everything together.”
Good advice.

-MML