Ruth NicholsIn June 1942, Ruth went on a blind date with Lt. Harold Nichols who was temporarily stationed in Clarksdale during World War II. Less than one year later -- March 13, 1943 -- Ruth and Harold were married. After the war, the Nichols relocated to Jonesboro, Ark. when Harold accepted a teaching and coaching position at Arkansas State College in Jonesboro, where he launched a wrestling program.
In 1953, the Nichols moved again, this time to Ames, as Harold was hired as head wrestling coach at what was then called Iowa State College. As her obituary in the Ames Tribune stated, "Ruth's life was to forever change. In the next three decades she became to surrogate mother to hundreds of wrestlers at Iowa State. She attended all of the home wrestling meets and enjoyed traveling on wrestling trips to the NCAA tournament each year."
Ruth's husband Harold Nichols made Iowa State one of the most successful Division I college wrestling programs in the nation. In his 32 years at the helm of the Cyclone wrestling program, Nichols' wrestlers won six NCAA team titles, and 38 individual NCAA championships. Among the champs he coached: Les Anderson, Carl Adams, Nate Carr, Dan Gable, Jim Gibbons, Ron Gray, Gordon Hassman, Veryl Long, Tom Peckham, Ben Peterson, Jason Smith, Chris Taylor and Kelly Ward. Coach Nichols retired at the end of the 1985 season; he passed away in Feb. 1997 at age 79. He is enshrined in numerous halls of fame, including the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame. In a 2005 online poll of wrestling fans conducted by the NCAA, Nichols was named one of three all-time greatest college coaches (along with Gable, who coached at University of Iowa, and Oklahoma State's Ed Gallagher).
In addition to her enduring support of her husband's coaching career and the Iowa State wrestling program, Ruth Nichols was active in civic and church work. One of her passions was genealogy.
Ruth and Harold Nichols had two sons: Harold James Nichols born July 27, 1945 in Hempstead, N.Y., and William Charles Nichols born July 10, 1950 in Jonesboro.
Services for Ruth Nichols were held Tuesday, Sept. 22 in Ames.
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