March 28, 2024

Terri Nichols

Greenfield

Terri Lynn Nichols, age 64, passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 29, 2021, surrounded by her family after a three year long battle with breast cancer.

Terri, the small town girl with a megawatt smile, was born October 13, 1956, in Greenfield, Iowa, to Dallas and Wanda Purdy. She married Daniel Nichols on April 26, 1985, and enjoyed 36 years of marriage. Together they raised three sons. Terri cherished her children and set the gold standard for being a kind, patient, loving mother.

Terri loved all things crafty. She spent many nights perfecting a hand-made gift or a seasonal decoration for her holiday displays. She could often be found with paint samples in hand, always looking to switch up the color in any given room, generally landing on something that matched her sunny personality. She inherited a renowned green thumb from her mother, Wanda Purdy, and would take great pride in having flowers in her yard and house that were the envy of the neighborhood.

Terri maintained lasting friendships with many, many people. Her sunny attitude endeared her to family, co-workers, neighbors, and strangers alike. She took pride in spending over 30 years working for Amoco Credit Card Center, and then moving on working for Meredith, and Wells Fargo. She loved organizing social events from family reunions to Christmas cookie baking parties and everything in between. Her cooking made her a local celebrity, especially amongst her son’s friends, who would often pester them trying to find out what was for dinner on a given night.

Terri is survived by her loving husband, Dan; her sons Ben, Sam, and Max; her mother, Wanda Purdy; her siblings Rob (Joan) Purdy, and Todd (Christina) Purdy and their families; Her siblings in-law Debbie (Pete) Slater, Diane (Jay) Snyder, Dana (Greg) Amerling, Don Nichols, Denise (Mark) Critelli, and their families. and so many more family members and friends. She was preceded in death by her father, Dallas R. Purdy; her brother, Mark A. Purdy, and her brother-in-law, David R. Nichols.

Celebration of Life services will be 3 p.m. Sept. 26, 2021, at the Sherwood Forest Event Center in Des Moines. Memorial contributions may be made to the family or to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in loving memory of Terri.