Margaret Nichols, Alexandria

Margaret Irene Nichols, 83, Alexandria, died Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, at her home.

She was born on May 17, 1929.

Funeral and prayer services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph Carmelite Monastery, Alexandria. Burial will be in St. Mary of Mercy Catholic Cemetery, Alexandria.

Visitation will be one hour prior to the service Friday.

Will Funeral Chapel, Mitchell, is handling arrangements.

Margaret was born in Portland, Ore., the third of four daughters to Charles Harold Nichols and Margaret Irene (Hodgin) Nichols.

She graduated from McMinnville High School in McMinnville, Ore., in 1947.

Margaret completed three years of the arts and sciences program at Oregon State College before moving to New York City to work as a stewardess for United Airlines from 1951 to 1954.

She did drafting work for Boeing Corporation in Seattle from 1954 to 1956.

Margaret married Keith Chapman on July 17, 1954, in Kirkland, Wash. They raised their three daughters on Bainbridge Island, Wash.

Margaret had a lifelong love for the beauty of nature, art and music, and enjoyed creating pottery, painting, writing poetry, etc. when she was younger.

She joined the Catholic church in 1986. Her faith was a source of joy, hope and peace in her life and in the lives of many of her loved ones.

Margaret worked as an office manager and bookkeeper for various companies over the years until she retired and moved to Alexandria in 1997.

Grateful for having shared her life are her three daughters and their husbands: Mollie (Michael) Grove, Alexandria; Tina (Rich) O’Neill, Edmonds, Wash.; and Jennifer (Ron) Unruh, Seattle; 12 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and three sisters: JoAnn Thomson, Redmond, Ore.; Meredith (Jim) Apperson, McMinnville, Ore.; and Nancy Morley, Salem, Ore.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Irene and Harold Nichols.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph Carmelite Monastery in Alexandria.

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