Rich began working at the Minneapolis / St.Paul Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. while still in school and continued there after graduating, working his way up through several positions. In 1981 he took a job with parent company PepsiCo and became a District manager in Kansas City, MO. In 1984 Rich was hired by LinPepco Partnership which was formed to purchase the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Lincoln. There, he served as President and General Manager for 10 years.
In the fall of 2001 Rich and his partner, the late Peter Dyson of Chicago purchased the oldest continuously run business in NE, The Johnson Hardware Co. headquartered in Omaha. Rich enjoyed growing the commercial door and door hardware company for the next 20 years until his passing.
Rich loved the lakes and Northern woods of MN dearly and spending time with his family at the cabin was his favorite thing to do in the whole world. He also enjoyed fishing, traveling, hockey, cars and auto racing of any kind.
When the Lincoln Icebox opened in the mid 90’s Rich volunteered to teach young children how to skate and he was soon sharing his passion for hockey with them. Rich went on to coach the Lincoln Junior Stars traveling Squirt and Peewee teams for several years.
Rich was also very passionate about his high school Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, MN where he served 9 years on their Board of Directors and was very active in alumni activities.
Rich leaves behind his wife of 40 years, Nancy, and his daughter Jessica and son Jack, both of Omaha; as well as his brother Robert (Beth) Nicoll of Bloomington, MN. He was preceded in death by his parents John (Jack) and Mary Helen Nicoll and his brother Bill.
Services will be held at First Plymouth Church in Lincoln on February 26 at 11:00AM. In lieu of flowers donations can be sent to Shattuck-St. Mary’s School, 1000 Shumway Ave. PO Box 218, Faribault, MN 55021 or to the American Cancer Society.