Kathryn Marie (Hilty) Nikkel

Kathryn Marie Nikkel (1938 to 2017)

Obituary

Kathryn Marie (Hilty) Nikkel, 78, died Thursday (April 27, 2017) at Diversicare of Hutchinson, where she resided the last two months of her life. She was born Oct. 16, 1938, near Donnellson, Iowa, the daughter of Carl and Viola Hilty.

She graduated from Versailles High School, attended Bethel College in North Newton and graduated from the Bethel Deaconess School of Nursing in May of 1960. She married Abraham J. Nikkel in Fortuna, Missouri, that same year.

Kathryn was a professional registered nurse most of her adult life. Early in her career, she worked in clinical settings. The last 20 years of her career, she served as a geriatric nurse and later as the Director of Nursing at the Good Shepherd Care Center in Versailles, Missouri.

Kathryn was a member of the Bethel Mennonite Church community, where she was involved with the Women in Mission. After the death of Abe in 2003, she faced declining eyesight and other health challenges. In 2004, she was lovingly embraced into the household of her sister, Twila, and brother- in-law, Homer Garber. She loved serving cookies to the little grands that visited their home, watering the flowers at the mailbox, folding church bulletins or washing up the last dishes from the meal with her sister and brother-in-law.

Kathryn is survived by a daughter, Julie Goering and her husband, Russell, Hutchinson; a son, James P. Nikkel, Newton; two granddaughters and their husbands, Anna and Jamar Crable and Maggie and Adam Pounds; great-grandsons, Jalen and Javion Crable, and Arlo Abraham Pounds; siblings and in-laws, Twila and Homer Garber, Versailles, Missouri, Doris Hilty, Versailles, Missouri, and Chester and Mary Hilty, Dixon, Illinois; and her husband's sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews and many other relatives and friends in various states.

Her husband, Abe; her daughter, Rebecca; and her parents, Carl and Viola, preceded her in death.

Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday (May 3, 2017) at Bethel Mennonite Church, Fortuna, Missouri, with Pastor Dave Zapf officiating. Burial will follow. The family received friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday (May 2, 2017) at Kidwell-Garber Funeral Home, Versailles, Missouri.

Memorial gifts may be made to Bethel Mennonite Church - Women In Mission, Fortuna, Missouri.

Expressions of sympathy may be left online at www.kidwellgarber.com. Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Kidwell-Garber Funeral Home of Versailles.