Terry Lynn Nichols, 69, of Idaho Falls, Idaho passed away Saturday, June 27, 2020, at Idaho Falls Community Hospital after a lingering illness. He was born on August 8, 1950, in Idaho Falls, Idaho to his adoring parents, Lavon "Nick" Nichols and Donna (Brown) Nichols. He was the third of five children and the hub of the wheel in the family.

The Nichols children spent their summers in Swan Valley, Idaho with Nick's twin sister's family, the Sermon's. The boys were all rowdy and fun-loving, playing pranks, starting garage bands with Terry at the drums, and working hard on Uncle Wayne's farm.

At 14 he started his first job, working at a car wash where his love of automobiles was born as he daydreamed of the cars he would own one day.  He didn't wait long to buy his first car which was a '56 Chevy. Soon after, he purchased a '66 Chevrolet Super Sport which was the envy of all his friends. He was known for having the fastest and nicest cars in town.

His love for cars continued when he worked for Mendenhall's Automotive before owning his own car parts business called Competition Corner.

Terry graduated from Idaho Falls High School in 1968 and two years later married Kay Barlow in 1970. That same year, the couple welcomed a baby girl, Tifni Lynn, and four years after that came their son, Tory Phillip. Terry lovingly called them Pickles and Beanhead.

Terry and Kay were part-owners of the Alpha Health Spa and Alpha Lady, as well as proudly owning the trendy clothing stores, On Broadway and Off Broadway. Terry would go in early to open the health spa and make sure everything was clean and ready for their clients before heading to work at Nick's Appliance Service, the family business.

With their busy schedules running a business and taking care of a family, Terry often took care of the daily responsibilities like picking the kids up from ballet, cheerleading, and various sports. No one cheered louder for the Nichols kids than Terry. At the end of their busy day, when they were tired and worn, he would have a home-cooked meal on the table.  One of the most requested dishes was his world-famous boneless ribs.

The time spent in the big, white house in Ammon was magical for the Nichols family, and the friends and neighbors around them.  They had two gentle Doberman's that everyone enjoyed playing with and their garage housed one of the hottest Corvettes in town that the neighborhood kids drooled over and made Tif and Tory some of the most popular kids around.

In 1984, Terry's love of Swan Valley became solidified when the Nichols and Sermon families purchased an old cabin to fix up and share. He was known for being a Jack of All Trades and could repair anything. He was dubbed the head of construction and led the family in rebuilding and remodeling the old cabin they named the Serm-A-Nick Some-R-Home.

In 1986, the family relocated to Gainesville, Florida where they opened Aunt KaDee's Cinnamon Roll Shop. Terry introduced Tory to the value of hard work at 11 years old when the two of them would wake up every morning at 3 a.m. to bake the most delicious cinnamon rolls in Gainesville. The family still begs Tory to make the famous rolls when the family gets together.

While in Gainesville, Terry met his best friend and fishing buddy, Damian, and fell in love with the University of Florida Gators. You could always see him wearing a Gators sweatshirt or hat.

Later, Terry moved back to Idaho Falls and began working side by side with his dad and brother, Rocky, at Nick's Service. It seems there wasn't a person in town that didn't know the Nichols boys because of their excellent appliance repair.

Rocky eventually introduced Terry to Joette Offermann. They had an instant connection and fell madly in love. They were married on October 25, 1997, and Terry added two teenage sons, Dustin and Barrett, to his family. They moved into a home on Pevero Drive, on the south side of the Sage Lakes Golf Course. Terry loved to sit in the backyard and watch people golfing - he could never hit a ball straight himself, but he loved to spectate!

His son-in-law, Jeff, felt spoiled when he would visit and get to spend one-on-one time with Terry. There were always amazing dinners, Joette's yummy treats, and good old-fashioned male bonding over watching sports.

Terry was never happier than when his family would come to stay and was thrilled for any excuse for "JoJo" and "Little Papa" to overindulge their grandkids with pizza, grilled cheese, Doritos, and Mountain Dew while the kids felt they were living their best life in their grandparent's basement.

Halloween's on Pevero Drive was a highlight of the year where the whole neighborhood was involved. Joette would dress up their fur-babies, Zoe and Bella, in costumes and when a knock came at the door Terry loved to let "the girls" greet trick-or-treaters as they collected their Twinkies or bags of potato chips.

Weekends in the summer were spent in Swan Valley where Joette beautifully decorated the cabin and Terry maintained the grounds, mowing the lawn around the cabin and even on the banks of the Snake River which ran through their property. He'd let his grandkids loose on the refurbished go-kart and when it eventually had enough and stopped running, he would skillfully bring it back to life for another few rides.

Terry loved bowling, especially when he got to teach his nieces and nephews the art of follow-through. Everyone was always amazed at how he could throw the ball so it would ride close to the lip of the gutter, and then curve back and score a strike at the last moment!

He was also an avid fisherman and learned everything he knew from his dad, who was the best. Terry and his best friend, Dee Zucher, would load up their boys, Tory and Don, and head to the water where they passed on their multi-generational wisdom with every cast. Later, his weekends were planned around when Damian could come to visit from Florida and he could go fishing with him, RP, Tory, and Jeff. Terry often gave his bounty away because he didn't like the "fishy" taste of fish.

Terry is remembered as a joker with a heart of gold. Tifni recalls that he has always been her biggest fan and confidant and he was always happy to give her advice. Those around him knew he had absolutely no problem taking care of anyone who needed it.

Terry was preceded in death by his father Nick; father-in-law Hadley Haugen; nephew Chris Marriot; and niece Stephanie Nichols. He is survived by his sweet mother Donna; his dedicated wife and best friend Joette Nichols; mother-in-law Eileen Haugen; siblings: Ronny (Barbara) Nichols, Barbara (Tim) Nielsen, Rocky (Pam) Nichols, Kelly (Cary) Ellis; children: Tifni (Jeff) Pennecard, Tory (Suzanne) Nichols, Dustin (Lien-Shin) Offermann, Barrett Offermann; grandchildren: Tyler, Jonny, Abbie, Melissa, Nicholas, Kameron, Logan, Preston, Katja, Natasha; and two Shi Tzu fur babies Zoe & Bella.

The family is having an open house to celebrate Terry's life on his 70th birthday, August 8, 2020, from 2:00-5:00 p.m., at his mom's home, 2408 Brandon Court, Idaho Falls. Cremation was under the direction of Coltrin Mortuary, 2100 First Street, Idaho Falls.