Floyd Leroy Nible, 88, passed away June 1, 2015 surrounded by family at the Veteranâs Home in Cameron, MO.
He was born October 25, 1926 on a farm near Ridgeway, MO, the son of George Leroy (Lee) and Fannie Arlyne Miller Nible. In December of 1946 he married Phyllis Jean Shaw and to this union five children were born: Sharon, Steve, Carolyn, Jerry, and Suzanne. In December of 1977 he married Elizabeth Ann Lippincott Cook adding five more children, Peggy, Bill, Penny, Rod, and Jay, rounding out his family. He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Georgie Owings; brother, Gerald Dean Nible; and step-sons, Harold Scott Cook and Rodney Paul Cook.
Floyd attended Ridgeway School most of his school years. He was a very talented athlete playing both football and basketball. He was all conference I basketball as a center. His sophomore year in high school his team won 22 or 23 games and went on to play in the state tournament. After graduating from Ridgeway High School in 1944, Floyd enlisted in the U.S. Army on December 7th at Fort Leavenworth and had basic training at Camp Roberts, CA. After basic training, it was on to Fort Ord, CA where they were issued equipment and munitions. They were then sent to Seattle to ship out on a merchant ship. The ship sailed to Hawaii where they boarded another troop transport ship and headed to Guam, then Saipan for advanced training for a walk-in invasion of Japan. He was sent by ship in a huge convoy and went to Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa was the largest amphibious invasion in the Pacific and the last major battle of World War II. President Truman ordered the A-Bomb dropped on Okinawa and Nagasaki and the war ended.
The troops were then flown to Japan where Floyd became an MP (Military Police) and patrolled Yokohama. After coming home for leave, he was sent to Fort Myer, VA where he served in Washington D.C. until his discharge in May 1947. During his time in Washington D.C. he was on the flag detail at the Pentagon. As officer in charge, he was responsible for getting the flag to and from the command post. He was also able to shake the hand of President Harry S. Truman and ate lunch at General McArthurâs home.
Floyd worked as a carpenter and police officer. He served on the Bethany Police Force and retired after 19 years of service. The kids in high school nicknamed him âFast Floyd.â He was given this name because he would pull out in front of all the kids that he knew would drive fast on their way to school to purposely slow them down. This was his way of reminding them of the speed limit without giving them a ticket. Floyd also was known to handle kids that had been doing wrong with his own kind of punishment. Instead of using the law and having kids arrested, he would take the kids home and make them tell their parents. Most of the time the kids would have preferred to be arrested but he knew parents back then would handle the problem properly.
Floyd enjoyed fishing, hunting, cutting wood, gardening, and being with his family, especially his grandkids. He went to Bennett Springs trout fishing, went spoonbilling at Lake of the Ozarks, and fished many ponds, rivers, and lakes in Northwest Missouri. One of his favorite stories about spoonbilling was having to scoop snow out of the boat just to go fishing.
Floyd was an avid hunter and spent many hours hunting coyotes, deer, and turkeys. He took his grandkids with him when he could. He spent many hours talking back and forth on the CB with his hunting buddies and his CB handle was âGreen Hornet.â
He raised a big garden that kept his family with vegetables all summer. He also kept Libby canning and freezing for their winter supply of food.
Floyd and his grandchildren spent many hours out in the timber cutting wood for the winter. The family would make a day of wood cutting and took picnic lunches to eat out in the timber. They all did lots of laughing and had fun.
Floyd and Libby spent many hours driving the van to attend their grandkidsâ ballgames. He drove many miles, a good amount of trips included taking the grandkids and their friends along with them and a lot of special memories were made along the way.
He loved having his family with him. He and Libby had many family gatherings in their home over the years and had as many as 50 people for a big day cooking out and playing games of volleyball or kickball, then finishing the day with homemade ice cream. Floyd said it took three days for the roof to settle back down after everyone was at their house.
In his later years, Floyd spent many hours reminiscing with buddies and flirting with his âgirlfriendâ at Toot-Toots.
Survivors include: children, Sharon (Pat) Maritato, Apple Valley, CA, Steve (Kay) Nible, Des Moines, IA, Carolyn Bjorkman (Robert Moultry) Victorville, CA, Jerry (Liz) Nible, Charleston, SC, Suzy (Nolan) Ula, Blanchardville, WI, Peggy Cracraft (Ron Hill) Eagleville, MO, Bill (Twila) Cook, Blythedale, MO, Penny Collins, Eagleville, MO, Jay (Linda) Cook, Blythedale, MO, Jeanne Vogal, Eagleville, MO; grandchildren, Staci Smith, Kasey Nible, Katilyn Nible, Chris Croes, Wes Collins, Robbie Cracraft, Derek Collins, Lindsay Maize, Tyler Cracraft, Paige Rodriguez, Katrina Briggs, Zeb Cook, Jed Cook, Dena Cook, and Eli Cook; great-grandchildren, Halsey Nible, Alora Nible, Tristan Nible, David Croes, Tobias Croes, Brett Perkins, Bailey Perkins, Hayden Baker, Audry Briggs, Mason Cracraft, Hadley Collins, Collin Briggs, Cooper Cracraft, Dominic Cracraft, Jaidyn Collins, Katelyn Briggs, Addison Collins, Hudson Collins, Levi Collins, Reid Collins, Ella Cook; sister, Erma Jean Claycomb; and sister-in-law, Dixie Nible.
Funeral services will be held at 3:00 P.M. Thursday, June 4 at Roberson Funeral Home, Bethany, MO. Burial, with military rites, will follow at Masonic Cemetery, Eagleville, MO. Family will receive friends from 4:30 to 6:30 P.M. Wednesday at the funeral home where friends may call after 1:00 P.M. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cameron Veterans Home in care of Roberson Funeral Home, PO Box 46, Bethany, MO 64424. Online condolences may be left at www.robersonfuneralhome.com