SERVICE FRIDAY FOR "PREACHER BOB"

(12/26/2006)

"Preacher Bob" 1934-2006

A former pastor of three Calhoun churches has passed after serving as a minister for 43 years.

Rev. Robert H. Nicholas, 72, of Glenville, died December 24, 2006 at Monongalia General Hospital in Morgantown following a short illness.

"Preacher Bob" had pastored the First Baptist, the Bethlehem and Enon Baptist Churches in Grantsville.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Glenville, Friday, December 29, 2006.

Burial will be in the Stalnaker Cemetery, Glenville.

Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m., Thursday, December 28, 2006 at the church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to the Glenville First Baptist Church Building Fund.

He was born August 4, 1934 in Revere, West Virginia, the son of the late Hoy C. and Pauline Grogg Nicholas.

He grew up in central West Virginia where he graduated from Tanner High School and attended Glenville State College.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Eleanor Bell Nicholas, sons Robert H. Nicholas, II, Kenton Andrew Nicholas, both of Glenville, West Virginia, Eric Warren Nicholas of Cox's Mill, West Virginia and James E. Moore of Cedarville, West Virginia, two sisters, Betty Jo Roberts of Kent, Ohio, and Wilma Weaver of Parkersburg, West Virginia, one brother, Roger D. Nicholas of Snellville, Georgia, seven grandchildren, one great-grandson, several nieces and nephews and many cousins.

He is a veteran of the US Army, having served during the Korean War from 1953-1955. He was an instructor for the West Virginia Baptist Convention School of Christian Studies, served on the Executive Board of the WVBC and chaired the Committee on Ministerial Standing. He was also the moderator of the Little Kanawha Baptist Association and chaired the Committee on Evangelism.

At the time of his death, he was the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Glenville, West Virginia. His ministry spanned a period of forty-three years, during which time, he served as pastor of small to mid-sized churches in Ohio and West Virginia notably: Associate Pastor of The Blackhorse Baptist Church of Ravenna, Ohio, Pastor of the Chestnut Street Baptist Church of Wadsworth, Ohio, the New England Baptist Church of New England, West Virginia, the Bethlehem Baptist Church, and the Enon Baptist Church of Grantsville, West Virginia, Sand Fork Baptist Church, Burnsville Baptist Church, and the First Baptist Church of Grantsville.

He also served as interim pastor at the First Baptist Church of Weston and the Mount Zion Baptist Church of Mineral Wells, West Virginia. His ministry focused mainly on evangelism and church growth and health.