Local historian, former professor Frank Nickell dies at age 89

Former Southeast Missouri State University professor and Cape Girardeau historian Frank D. Nickell died at the age of 89 on Sunday, Feb. 9

Nickell was born Dec. 7, 1935, near Atwood, Illinois. He married his wife, Gynel, on Sept. 9, 1956. She died Dec. 17, 2011.

Nickell received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois University and a doctoral degree from the University of New Mexico. He worked as an associate professor of history at SEMO from 1969 until he retired in 2013.

Retired Southeast Missourian business editor Jeff Long wrote columns with Nickell called “The Past is Prologue” for the newspaper.

Long said Nickell had an “inexhaustible interest in research” and was “intensely curious”.

“I believe Frank was the unquestioned historian of Southeast Missouri,” Long said.

He also said that despite Nickell not being a big man, he was “quite a football player”. He said Nickell played at Eastern Illinois until he had a career-ending injury.

Along with writing columns about history, Nickell participated in documenting it in books. Nickell wrote a book with Jerry Ford about Cape Girardeau native Gen. Seth McKee of the U.S. Air Corps, titled “Seth: The Life and Journey of General Seth Jefferson McKee”.

Ford of the Jerry Ford Orchestra described one of Nickell's defining characteristics as always being calm. Ford said Nickell was once probably the most knowledgeable person about Cape Girardeau, and the country, with his knowledge expanding to even foreign countries.

Nickell’s interests were beyond just history; he was also passionate about animal rescue. Long said Nickell and his wife, Gynel, were “essentially” responsible for starting the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri, now called Southeast Missouri Pets.

Long recalled that one year in the midst of a blizzard, Nickell went across town to take care of the pets.

“Nobody was going anywhere, and he walked from his house all the way to the shelter to make sure those pets got fed and cared for,” he said.

Professional photographer Tom Neumeyer recalled the same story of the blizzard, saying Nickell “trudged through the snow up to the Humane Society to make sure those dogs and cats were taken care of.” Neumeyer worked with Nickell and Joel Rhodes on a book about Cape Girardeau in 2004.

He said as Nickell worked with him, Neumeyer considered him a mentor. Neumeyer said you can’t just use one word to describe Nickell, from historian to educator to mentor to professor to friend to community member to advocate.

Federal Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. said Nickell had a special gift as a storyteller. Limbaugh said Nickell conducted research in many ways but one of the most prevalent ways he researched is by establishing relationships with people who had their own interesting stories.

“He would go around and make friends, establish personal relationships with folks from all over Southeast Missouri, and then he would write about their own tales,” he said.

After Nickell left Southeast Missouri State University, he started working with the Kellerman Foundation in 2014. Nickell joined the organization as a volunteer and had a steady “stream of people visiting all the time”. Mary Ann Kellerman said Nickell was “incredible” in how he interacted with the public.

Kellerman described Nickell as very generous.

“I think he still read six or eight, nine newspapers and magazines every day. So he was extremely inquisitive; very, very interested in life and people, and of course, our background,” Kellerman said.

Kellerman said Nickell helped them not just see the historical importance of buildings, but also the people, the culture and the background.

A memorial service for Nickell will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at the Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.