Phyllis Nichelson, 78

Phyllis May Nichelson, 78, of Mountain Home, died Monday, March 31, 2003, at a Boise hospital, of heart failure. Graveside Services were held Friday, April 4, at the Mountain View Cemetery in Mountain Home with Pastor Jim Parmele officiating. Arrangements were under the direction of Summers Funeral Homes, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home.

Phyllis was born May 17, 1924, in Luton, England, to Frederick and Marjorie (Brooks) Ward. Her father was a retired captain in the British Army who went into farming after World War I.

Phyllis spent her life on the family farm and met George Joseph Nichelson, a U.S. flier for the U.S. Air Force stationed near Luton, England, in World War II. The two courted and she followed George to the U.S. and subsequently married him in June 1947 in Michigan City, Ind.

Her husband, George, was called up to active duty during the Korean War and she followed him all around the world, until finally settling in Mountain Home in 1964.

Phyllis and her husband bought a small farm near West Mountain Home in 1968 and started farming. She raised prize-winning sheep and cattle and loved horseback riding on her beloved horse, Alvin. "Her compassion for animals and love of the land was truly seen by all that knew her," her family said, adding, "Phyllis loved being with her grandchildren and family."

Phyllis is survived by: her husband, George J. Nichelson of Mountain Home; her eldest son, Gerald L. Nichelson of Oak Harbor, Wash.; her daughter, Jacqueline and her husband, Ron Hubble, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; her son Charles and his wife, Bonnie, of Mountain Home, and her son Michael and his wife, Sarah, of Escondido, Calif.; and three granddaughters. She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, a sister and a grandson.