Lewis Edwin Nichols (98) of Mt Pleasant, SC died peacefully in his sleep on March 10, 2020 at the Keil Healthcare Center at Franke at Seaside in Mt. Pleasant, SC.
He was born in Newberry County, SC on September 16, 1921, and attended Newberry College. Mr. Nichols is survived by his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Roddey Nichols of Charleston, SC; granddaughter, Kristen Nicole Nichols-Cooper (Guy) of Johns Island, SC; great-granddaughter, Liza Grace; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Leila Butler Nichols and Wade Hampton Nichols of Newberry; his only child, Keith Lewis Nichols of Charleston, SC; and his four brothers and seven sisters.
Mr. Nichols, a World War II veteran honorably discharged from the Army in August 1943, worked for most of his life at Independent Life Insurance Company and later retired with Rick Hendrick BMW of Charleston in 2014. He was active in Shriners International, a member of the Masonic Lodge, and a long-time supporter of the University of South Carolina and Gamecock athletics. He enjoyed historical fiction and biographies, was an avid bird watcher, car enthusiast, and cook who loved homemade apple pie and ambrosia and was best known by family and friends for his smoked turkey, of which he would cook as many as twenty birds for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
A devoted husband, father, grandfather, and uncle, he will be missed by all who knew and loved him.
The family will gather with friends on Sunday, March 15, 2020 from 2PM - 4PM at McAlister-Smith- James Island, 347 Folly Road, James Island, SC 29412.
A graveside service will take place Monday, March 16, 2020 at 2 PM at Newberry Memorial Gardens,15127 C R Koon Hwy, Newberry, SC 29108.
Memorial contributions may be made to Franke at Seaside, Attention: Foundation, 1885 Rifle Range Road, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464.
Arrangements entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral Home, Mt Pleasant, 1520 Rifle Range Road Mt Pleasant, South Carolina, 29464, 843-884-3833.