Mabel Isabel Nichols “Nickee” Magnuson of Bellingham, Wash. was called home to her Lord on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007. She had been a resident of St. Francis Extended Care in Bellingham for the last seven years. She was 85, born in Barnard, VT, on May 23, 1921, to Hattie (Harlow) and Clarence W. Nichols. Her Harlow family roots can be traced back to the Mayflower.

She graduated from Oliver Ames High School in Brockton, Mass. in 1938. Nickee received her LPN from Booth Memorial Hospital in Boston, Mass.

She worked there and at the Poly Clinic Hospital in New York City until her marriage to Alton Magnuson in 1952. She and Al moved to Bellingham in 1957. Rather than continue in nursing, she worked alongside her husband as they established several newspapers. In 1964, they began the paper that turned into “The Islands’ Sounder.”

They moved to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands in 1974. Nickee was very well known for her work behind the scenes, as bookkeeper, head typesetter, and mail room worker. She often added long columns of figures in her head to check the accuracy of the adding machine. They sold the paper in 1985, and began the “Mt. Baker Experience” and the “Foothills Experience” newspapers in 1987, which they sold in 1999.

Nickee was a woman who served God from her early youth. She learned to play the trumpet as a teenager so she could play in the Salvation Army Band, and later played piano and sang in many choirs. While they lived on Orcas Island, she was active in the Orcas Island Community Church. Until her illness, she was an active member of the Northside Alliance Church. Her sincere love of God shone through much of what she did. She was a true woman of valor (Proverbs 31), and is extolled by her family for her loving spirit.

Nickee was preceded in death by her husband, Alton Magnuson, in September of 2002. She is survived by her sons, Earl (Deborah) Magnuson and Joseph Magnuson; 3 granddaughters: Christine, Sara and Hannah; great-grandson Michael; brothers: Earl (Beth) Nichols, Paul Nichols, and Russell (Patricia) Nichols; sisters: Ruth Ball, and Priscilla (Bart) Wheeler; and many nieces and nephews. The family especially wishes to thank the staff of St. Francis Extended Care Center for their wonderful care over the years.