Bernard Floyd McNickle

Bernard Floyd McKickle, 96, passed away on Wednesday, February 23, 2023.

Bernard (Bernie) Floyd McNickle was born January 24, 1927, in a rural farmhouse near Aline, Oklahoma. He was the fourth child of six surviving children born to Chester and Gladys Leona Cline McNickle (two additional siblings died at birth). Bernie grew up during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, drove a tractor and pickup at age 13 and performed all manner of farm duties at that early age, caring for chickens, pigs, milk cows, horses and sheep. He also pumped gas at the small family country gas station, helped attend a large garden and small orchard; he  cultivated fields, using  a team of horses. In 1937, he and his brothers strung their own telephone line from their rural home to the Aline, OK phone exchange. He learned to repair almost anything.

Bernie attended Helena High School where he met the love of his life, Joyce Louise Packard. He made a series of rebuffed attempts to date her, and finally managed to persuade her to go to the movies one evening. He had enough credits to graduate high school a few months before the rest of his class and joined the U.S. Navy in 1944. After World War II ended in 1945, he and Joyce married and moved to Oklahoma City, where he obtained an entry level position with a start-up business named Reeve Dental Supply. At first, his duties were largely janitorial together with anything-else-that-needs-to-be-done, but he was quickly promoted so that in 1947, he and Joyce moved to Tulsa so that he could establish and manage a Tulsa branch of the company. They raised their children, Vicki and Norman in Tulsa and in 1983 moved back to Oklahoma City (company headquarters), as they acquired the business and grew it to include a branch in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They employed approximately 100 people and enjoyed providing company picnics and developing close relationships with many of their employees. Bernie was CEO and Joyce functioned as CFO; they were quite a team! Bernie served in leadership positions at the national level in dental trade organizations and received multiple awards for his contributions. They traveled widely – both domestically and internationally – as a couple for both business and personal purposes, visiting the Holy Land on three occasions.

After retiring in 1998, Bernie and Joyce doubled down on the service to the church they had begun early in their marriage. As a couple, they served as everything from youth sponsors (very early on) to elders. Bernie championed the Oklahoma Christian Home cause when the National Benevolent Association (NBA) filed for bankruptcy and helped establish Disciples Retirement Community of Oklahoma. The First Christian Church Edmond Mission Fund was established in 2015 by the couple to further the church’s involvement in Disciples4Water as well as other mission-related work.

After Joyce’s death in 2015, Bernie defied statistics by continuing to thrive and serve. In 2017 he moved to his daughter’s small ranch in Jones to care for a small herd of cattle and grow an outsize garden. His gardening skills are, well, legendary. He died in the course of doing what he loved: feeding the cattle.

Bernie was preceded in death by his parents, his siblings (Gerald, Wayne, Virginia, Wilma and Glenn), and his wife and life partner, Joyce. He is survived by his children Norman (Deb) of Stillwater, Vicki (Brian Jenner) of OKC; his grandchildren Zachary (Kerry) of Stillwater, Daniel of Moore, and Sam (Calli) of Colorado Springs; and his great-grandchildren Wyatt and Will of Stillwater and Lillian Joy of Colorado Springs. He was looking forward to the birth of a great-grandson in Colorado Springs in May.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 10:00 AM on Monday, February 27, 2023, at First Christian Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.

In lieu of flowers, the family request memorial gifts to the First Christian Church of Edmond Mission Endowment at Oklahoma Disciples Foundation by clicking the following link, https://okdfdn.org/ or by mail at, 301 NW 36th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73118.

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