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Birth:          18 Oct 1919 Seminole, Seminole Co., Okla.
Death:          10 Feb 2004 

Notes
!PUBL
Nichols of Springfield, Mass., tree on ancestry
1930 in Topeka, Kans.
1940 in Topeka, Kans. stenographer optical
US Soc Sec Apps and Claims on ancestry
PO Box 594, Walker, Minn.

WALKER, Minn. --- Vera Valcina Nichols Kinder, 84, Walker, went to a better place on 
Feb. 10, 2004, after a brief illness. 

 She was born on Oct. 18, 1919, in Seminole, Okla., to Ellen T. and Chester Clinton 
Nichols. Vera's journey through life took her to Topeka, where her family ran a small 
hotel. She graduated from Topeka High School in 1937 and intended to pursue a 
career in archeology. When she was denied a college scholarship offered only to 
archeology students, because of her womanhood she went to a business college and 
worked as a secretary in Topeka. During this time, she met Orville Kinder, the love of 
her life. When Orv joined the Army in 1940 and was stationed in Washington, D.C., he 
asked her to be his bride. They were married on Dec. 5, 1940, and remained partners 
in life for 51 years until his untimely death in 1991. 

 She was the last owner of Forestview Lodge on the southeast shore of Leech Lake 
before it was sold to a developer in the fall of 2001. Before purchasing the resort in 
April 1952 with Orville, her brother, Ted Nichols and wife, Dorothy, Vera ran a rooming 
house in Topeka with her mother in the former home of U.S. Vice President Charles 
Curtis. 

 As a 52-year resident of the area, Vera was active in the Leech Lake Area Chamber 
of Commerce (formerly the Walker Civic and Commerce), the Community Church and 
was a charter member of PEO Chapter CY in Walker. She was honored as a pioneer of 
Minnesota resorting by the Minnesota Resort Association in 1998 and was a founding 
member of the Congress of Minnesota Resorts. The 50 years she spent behind the 
front desk at Forestview was her legacy. She cherished the many members of her 
extended Forestview family. 

 Vera enjoyed with relish a brief, but well-earned retirement. Visiting Mackinac Island, 
Mich., in the fall of 2003. She was preparing to leave at the end of February on a 
paddlewheel trip down the Mississippi to go "in search of Huckleberry Finn." 

 She was preceded in death by her husband, Orville; her mother, Ellen T. Nichols; her 
brother, Theodore "Ted" Nichols; and father, Chester Clinton Nichols. 

 She will be greatly missed by her surviving sons, Neill and Brook, of Walker, Minn.; 
and the rest of the Forestview clan. 

 Memorial services are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 20, at the 
Community Church in Walker, Minn. Lunch will be served in the fellowship hall 
following the service. Please join us to help celebrate Vera's life. In lieu of flowers, 
memorial donations can be made to the Orville and Vera Kinder Memorial Hospitality 
Scholarship Fund in care of American National Bank, 100 Highland Ave. N.W., Box 
1330 Walker, Minn., 56484. Those who prefer non-monetary memorials are 
encouraged to donate living plants or potted flowers to Woodrest Nursing Home, 
Walker, Minn., St. Joseph's Hospital of Park Rapids, Minn., Fairview University 
Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minn., or the Fairview University Transitional Services 
Unit, Minneapolis, Minn., for the continued enjoyment of those in ill health. 

Cremation services were arranged through Thomas/Dennis Funeral Home of Walker, 
Minn. 
Topeka Capital-Journal, The (KS) — Sunday, March 14, 2004 

Parents
NICHOLS Chester Clinton (20 Nov 1869 - 26 Aug 1943)
LEWIS Ellen Tobitha (31 Dec 1889 - 17 Apr 1984)

Siblings
NICHOLS Vera Valcina (18 Oct 1919 - 10 Feb 2004)
NICHOLS Theodore Thomas ("Ted") (22 Nov 1922 - 9 Aug 1982)

Marriage To KINDER Orville (9 Apr 1919 - 27 Sep 1991)
    m. 21 Dec 1940 Hyattsville, Md.

Notes

Parents
KINDER James Nolan ()
WEINSTEIN Margaret ()

Children by KINDER Orville 9 Apr 1919 - 27 Sep 1991
KINDER Neill N. ()
KINDER Brook Barton ()

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