Bruce C. McNickle

Bruce McNickle was born in Lexington, Nebraska on December 22, 1945, and he died on April 5, 2024 in Monticello, Minnesota after a two-month battle with pancreatic cancer. His father Clark McNickle was a farmer, and his mother Alma McNickle was a high school teacher of English and Art. Bruce went to the University of Nebraska and received Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Psychology. During those years, he met his wife Ann, served his country as an Officer in the Vietnam War, and had two children, Christie and Jeff.

Bruce’s passions in life were helping others and exploring the world. These manifested in beautiful ways throughout his 78 years. As a psychologist, he often worked with severely schizophrenic patients. He was committed to giving his patients a sense of purpose and bringing joy through small acts of kindness. While Bruce worked as a psychologist, he, Ann and their children lived in Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota, enriching the family with exposure to unique places and people in America. He enjoyed studying cultures from around the world, and his children grew up reading and watching National Geographic with him. Bruce started collecting historical stamps in the 1990s to learn about different countries and cultures. He spent the next 30 years lovingly curating a stamp collection for his children and grandchildren.

After retirement, Bruce wanted to continue contributing to the wellbeing of his community and took on leadership roles as the President of an HOA and President of the Church Council at Trinity Lutheran Church in Monticello. He found immense joy in his work with the Church congregation, and imbued his leadership tasks with humility, compassion, and kindness. He also became involved in social justice and climate change initiatives, because he wanted to leave the world a better place for his granddaughters and younger generations. As an avid opera aficionado, Bruce’s lifelong dream was to visit Vienna, Austria. In 2019 at age 74, he joyfully embarked on a European tour of Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany.

Bruce will be remembered as an intelligent, thoughtful, kind person who was quick to laugh and even quicker to lend a hand. He is survived by his wife, Ann McNickle, two children, Christie (Asha Wagner) McNickle (California), Jeff (Amber) McNickle (Minnesota), two young granddaughters, Josie and Grace, and two sisters, Edythe McNickle (Florida), Linda McNickle (New Mexico). If you wish to honor Bruce’s memory through a donation, these two nonprofits were dear to his heart:  1) Trinity Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 776 Monticello, MN 55362.  2) American Heart Association, PO Box 840692, Dallas, TX  75284-0692.

 The Memorial will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church on Saturday, April 13th with a 10:00 AM Visitation and 11:00AM Service. Arrangements by Peterson-Grimsmo Funeral Chapel in Monticello, www.peterson-grimsmochapel.com.

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