Memorial being held for Lucille Nichols

The Willard F. Bond Home will celebrate the life of the late Lucille Nichols, who impacted the community beyond her five decades as administrator of the Willard F. Bond Home/The Home Place.

The memorial begins at 10 a.m. Dec. 14 in the main dining room of the Bond Home and will honor Nichols’ decades of service to the Madison community. Her most beloved ministry in life was the Bond Home. She died on Aug. 1 of this year at the age of 96.

Many members of the Madison community knew Nichols well, including Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler. Nichols took Hawkins-Butler and her brother in after their parents died and considered Hawkins-Butler her “special daughter.”

Anne Thompson, Nichols’ daughter, who is now the executive director at the Bond Home, said everyone is welcome to attend.

“This memorial is a family-oriented event,” Thompson said. “We’ll have a preacher, Ed McDaniel, speak about Mrs. Nichols along with the mayor. Chris Bratcher of Madison is also going to speak and sing for us.”

Thompson said Nichols’ family members would take part in hanging an ornament on the Bond Home’s Memorial Tree, which honors all residents and staff members who have passed away.

Nichols held a long list of accomplishments, including having served on an advisory board for healthcare under President George W. Bush, Woman of the Year for Madison County, Businesswoman of the Year by the Business Advisory Council in Washington, D.C., a member of the Board of the Madison County Department of Human Services, and a member of the 100 Club of Madison County. She was also awarded the Peggy Wilkes Award by the City of Madison Chamber of Commerce, and The Nichols Center, a nursing facility in Madison, is named in her honor.

The Bond Home is located at 7521 Old Canton Road in Madison. For more information, call the home at 601-856-6886.