RATHDRUM, Idaho – Dorthy Dell (Chamberlain) Nichols passed away on Sunday, January 22, 2023, after a lengthy struggle with Parkinson disease. She was with her loving family at their home in Rathdrum.
Dorthy was born October 7, 1935, in Scottsbluff, Nebraska to William Earl Chamberlain and Bernice Louise (Warner) Chamberlain. She and her four siblings were raised in the LaGrange Community where she was active in 4-H, a LaGrange Longhorn Cheerleader, and a member of the LaGrange High School Pep Band. Upon graduation, she attended the University of Wyoming for one year after which she became employed by the United Telephone Company in Scottsbluff. It was there that she met her future husband James E. Nichols, a United States Navy Veteran. The couple was wed in the LaGrange Community Church on November 19, 1955, and they began their lives together in Cheyenne. They both had careers with the State Farm Insurance organization and both of them were employed first with the Harold Nichols Agency until the closing of that Agency. They then continued their careers with the Rex Mauch Agency until their retirements.
The Nichols were blessed with two daughters, Patricia and Wendy. In addition to being an employed mother, Dorthy was very dedicated to children and served as a Girl Scout Troop Leader, volunteered in the pediatrics wing of the Cheyenne Memorial Hospital, and volunteered in her daughter’s public school classrooms. She also served as a Republican Party Election Judge and Poll Worker and was a Sunday School Teacher at the First Baptist Church. In addition, she participated in many cancer walk-a-thons and March of Dimes fund raisers. Dorthy always expressed enormous pride in her extended family, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and nieces and nephews and made it a point to remember everyone’s birthday. An avid golfer, she loved to play the Little America Course in Cheyenne and spent much of her later years engaged in internet communication with a large number of friends.
Dorthy was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Jim; her daughter Wendy Baur; a brother Earl Chamberlain; and a sister Darlene (Chamberlain) Schuppan. She is survived by a sister Genevieve Ennis in Twin Falls, Idaho; a brother Doug Chamberlain in LaGrange; and six grandchildren and four great grandchildren. A memorial celebration of life will be held on July 8, 2023, at 2 p.m. at the Schrader, Aragon, and Jacoby Funeral Home, 2222 Russell Avenue in Cheyenne. Memorial gifts can be made to the Engage Church, 5101 S. Freya, Spokane, WA 99223, or Advance Home and Hospice Care of Coeur d’Alene, 1578 W. Riverstone Drive, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814.
