Ronald Dennis Nickolett

Ronald D. Nickolett, loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, U.S. Air Force medic and recruiter, trumpet player, cartoonist and one-time political candidate, died Apr. 25, 2026, in Wauwatosa, WI. He was 91.Ron was born and raised in Superior, WI, one of four children of John and Gertrude, and fully lived his more than 90 years. As an adolescent, he and a friend once hopped a freight train and rode all the way to the West Coast before returning home. As a teen, he played trumpet in a three-piece band with his mother and father in supper clubs around northern Wisconsin. In school, he had a love of drawing and worked on the sets of plays.He joined the Air Force soon after high school and it became his career for the next 20 years. He served as a medical technician, working at bases in Okinawa and Thailand, Topeka, KS, McAllen, TX, and elsewhere. During the Vietnam War, he was on flights ferrying wounded soldiers out of harm’s way, among other duties. He finished off his tenure by becoming a successful recruiter, retiring in 1975 with a rank of Master Sergeant.After leaving the military, he worked as Housekeeping Director at St. Joseph’s hospital in Milwaukee.Ron, and his wife Sharon, retired first to Horseshoe Bend, AR, where he got involved in the chamber of commerce and eventually ran for mayor. They also spent retirement in Ocala, FL, Kimberling City, MO, and Forsyth, MO, before moving back to Wisconsin.Ron was an avid golfer and car enthusiast. He had a special love for Corvettes. Quick to tell stories and jokes, he loved playing cards and board games with friends and family, and relying on Bruce, his brother, to get him out of jams on the computer. He continued with his art, drawing political cartoons and t-shirt designs, putting together family calendars and supplying art work for several of a relative’s children’s books.He will be dearly missed.Ron was preceded in death by his mother and father, a brother, Jack, and a sister, Phyllis.He is survived by his wife, Sharon Nickolett of Wauwatosa; brother, Bruce of Kimberling City, MO; son Ronald “Chip” Nickolett II (Jackie) of New Berlin, WI; daughters Ramona Racca of Defuniak Springs, FL, Rebecca Coats (Robert) of Bassfield, MS, and Jacquelyn Kennedy (Mike) of New Berlin, WI; step-children Sue Novak (Eric Hamersma) of Land O’ Lakes, WI, John Novak (Tara) of Colgate, WI; and Yancey Roy (Kate) of Albany, NY; and more than a dozen grandchildren and great-grandchildren.His family would like to thank the amazing people who helped him at the V.A. Hospital in Milwaukee and the Froedtert Hospital main campus.Services will be held at 1 p.m., Tuesday, May 26, at the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove, WI. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please make a donation in Ron’s honor to your favorite veterans' organization.