Pub. 1 2012 Issue 4

6 l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s I n 1926, Richard Nichols was born to a modest family in Ft. Scott, Kansas. Today, in his new found retirement, he sits in his beautifully decorated 4th floor office that overlooks downtown McPherson and shares the milestones that led him here. Dick starts his story noting that the hardships of the great depres - sion struck the Nichols family as it did many others of the time. His father enjoyed working with local farmers as an agent with an insurance company, but in this era of financial failure his father found himself unemployed. Dick’s mother established employment at a local sewing factory and so while the family loved deeply, they survived in a very humble way. It was in this backdrop that he learned two life lessons that had long-lasting impact. He was about ten years old and he learned from a friend that the circus was coming to town, but he needed a dollar to go. He asked his mother for the money but she told him she couldn’t afford to spend their money on such things. Then she went on to say, “Dick, if you need money it’s out there. Just go and find it.” After mowing some yards and cleaning windows, he had the money he needed. “Once the day had come and the circus was here, I couldn’t decide what to do,” Dick explains. “There were dare devils, side shows and so many things to choose from. Then I saw a big sign with a lady all dressed up and she had a crystal ball in front of her. The sign said ‘Fortune Teller.’” He looked inside the tent and a woman in a dark room called him in and asked him if he wanted her to read his fortune. He nervously gave her his money and she held his palm and said, “ahhh, you will be a lucky boy.” Before she could say another word Dick ran all the way home and told his mom about his day. “At first she was appalled that I had spent my money on a fortune teller,” Dick remembers, “ but she listened to me say that I would be a lucky boy then looked at me and wisely said “if you believe it, it will happen.” Here we are in 2012; reflecting back over the years and Dick leans forward with his hands open and says, “Good things have happened in my life, unexpected things.” He believed that he was a person of good fortune and when he needed something he went looking for it. At age 19 Dick enlisted in the Navy and was selected to participate in the Navy V-12 College Program. “I went with two of the top boys from my high school class to sign-up for this program,” Dick explained. “I was the only one who made it through. I guess I was a lucky boy,” he said with a smile. He received education at the University of Kansas, Park College and graduated from the program, just short of a bachelor’s degree, at Notre Dame in 1946. He was commissioned as an Ensign and served sea duty aboard a destroyer in the Atlantic. Once he completed his tour of duty with the Navy, Dick pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in bothAgricultural Economics and Technical Journalism from Kansas State University. While he was there, he was the Editor of the K-State University daily newspaper, President of the Blue Key, senior men’s honorary society, Varsity tennis letterman and President of the Extension Club for prospective extension workers, among other Success: The Richard Nichols story Early Advertisement in banking at First National Bank, Hutchinson Dick Nichols in his new office with decades of honorable recognition displayed.