Raymond Joseph Nicholson

Raymond ‘Ray’ Joseph Nicholson was born on June 5th, 1960 to Patricia Mae (Johnson) and Deuard Lee Nicholson. He passed away on January 16th, 2023 surrounded by family in the comfort of home. He is predeceased by both of his parents. He was born in Covington, Kentucky then resided in the Newport, Kentucky area until his father who was a Bonded Detective and Investigator joined the Cincinnati Police Force. Then, the family moved to Ohio where Ray grew up with his siblings Brenda,Tom, and Dawn.

Living are his children : Joseph (Nicholson) Owens; Erik (Nicholson)Owens; Linnea Nicholson; Johnny Parker; Arianne White and Christina Nicholson. He leaves four grandchildren through his sons Joe and Erik.

He was a resident of Woodstock, Georgia. Years ago, he ran with a great crowd of friends in Roswell, GA who knew him as ‘the Beez’ a.k.a. ‘Rabies’. He also lived in Daytona Beach, Florida where he graduated from high school.

Anyone who knew Ray knew that he loved sunshine, warm weather, watching storms, four-wheeling in the mountains, scuba diving in the Florida Keys, salt life, a good game of Chess, working hard, playing hard, laughing hard and looking cool. He promised to stop smoking cigarettes as soon as they pulled the burning embers from his cold hands. And so it was.

He had many skills and enjoyed a career in plumbing. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of plumbing codes, bird identification and had an outstanding general fund of knowledge despite living his life through the unimaginable maze of navigating the world with a brain tumor that affected him greatly and cost him losses and pain though it remained undiagnosed for 53 years. He served in the U.S. Army.

His adult daughter Linnea was his primary caregiver for the final years of his life. During that time he took solace in taking joy rides with the windows down and the music jamming. He looked forward to church on Sundays; his Support Group with Rev. Kevin Weikum (and the ladies) and attending the Men’s Bible Study at His Hands Church in Woodstock, GA almost every Tuesday morning for the past year and a half. In that time Rev. Kevin Weikum of His House Ministries walked this journey with Ray, baptized him and befriended him.

Ray was also predeceased by Erin Eileen Parker, the mother of Johnny Parker; Arianne White, and Christina Nicholson.

A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00pm on the 24th of January at His Hands Church in Woodstock, GA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his honor to Loving Arms Cancer Outreach in Marietta, GA at lovingarms.com or to hishouseministries.com