Sidonnia Ann Nickel was born January 16, 1923, the last of four children born to Marie and Abraham Nickel in Mountain Lake, Minnesota. She spent her childhood on the farm, doing chores, feeding pet ducks, milking cows, and learning to take care of her mother who became ill with Parkinson?s Disease soon after Sid was born. From a young age, Sid was a part of a group of aunts and cousins who cared for Marie and it was out of that experience that Sid made the decision to become a nurse. Soon after her mother died when Sid was 21, she entered the nursing program at Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton KS. There she made lifelong friends, worked hard under the stern guidance of the sisters at the hospital, and earned her RN license in 1949.
She went back to Mountain Lake to work as a nurse for a year and then decided to expand her horizons by moving to Los Angeles. Though a big change for a small town farm girl, she always spoke fondly of her time in LA. After a year or two there, she made the decision to go to Bethel College in N. Newton, KS to finish up her bachelor?s degree. At Bethel she met Cal Flickinger, a Pretty Prairie, KS boy.
They both graduated from Bethel in 1952 and were married a year later. Cal had already started seminary in Chicago the year before they married and so they moved to Chicago after the wedding so he could continue his studies. Sid worked as a nurse while in the city.
After Cal finished at seminary, they were interested in doing some international work, though a placement was a bit slow in coming. They moved back to Kansas, living and working in Hutchinson for a year. During that time, their first son, Ron, was born at Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton. After the year in Hutchinson, they moved to the Hopi Reservation in Arizona to work at the Mission School in Oraibi,Cal as a teacher and Sid as a nurse. After a year on the reservation, they left for Costa Rica to attend language school in preparation for working in Colombia with the Mennonite Board of Missions. During a year in language school in San Jose, Costa Rica, their second son, Dan was born.
Sid and Cal spent four years (1957-1961) working at the Colegio Americano Boarding School in Cachipay, Colombia. This was a school started by the Mennonite Church specifically for the children of those affected by leprosy. Cal worked as a teacher at the school and Sid as the school nurse. Their third son, John, was born in Bogota, Colombia. Near the end of their time in Colombia, while they were back in the States on furlough, their daughter, Su, was born in Newton, KS, giving Sid a chance to reconnect with Bethel Deaconess Hospital.
Returning to the States for good in 1962, they moved back to Oraibi for a year, once again working at the Mission School there. During that time, they made the decision to move to Phoenix, which became their home for the rest of Sid?s life.
She got a job as a nurse at Baptist Hospital and stayed with that institution for the next 22 years, working the night shift for most of that time and eventually taking on a variety of positions at the hospital. Their second daughter, Lois was born in Phoenix. Sid and Cal were deeply involved in the formation of First Mennonite Church and that community became a central part of the family?s life for the next thirty years.
Both Sid and Cal enjoyed travel so summers were often spent taking family vacations, usually long road trips that included visits with family in Minnesota, Kansas, Colorado, Washington, and Manitoba. Especially memorable were overseas trips that took the family back to Colombia, and later to several countries in Europe as occasions for the scattered family to reunite.
Sid and Cal moved to Glencroft Retirement Community in 1985, though they both continued to work for a few more years. After they finally did retire, they both served in a variety of volunteer capacities at Glencroft, widening their circle of friends and drawing satisfaction from being useful.
In 1992, Sid and Cal left First Mennonite Church and in 1999 joined Shadow Rock Congregational Church, where they attended for the next 15 years, appreciative of the congregation?s commitment to peace and social justice.
Sid was diagnosed with Parkinson?s Disease in 2015, and this combined with her fading vision led to a slower pace of life for her last few years. Sid died peacefully on August 16, 2017, at Hospice of the Valley, with Cal and their daughters at her side.
Sid was preceded in death by her three brothers, Leander, Marvin, and Arnold and her granddaughter, Teresa. She is survived by her husband, Calvin Flickinger; her children, Ron Flickinger and Colleen Kliewer Flickinger, Dan Flickinger, John Flickinger and Douglas Basinger , Susan Flickinger and Doris Bartel, and Lois Flickinger; and one grandchild, Martin Flickinger.
The memorial service will be held at Glencroft on August 26, 2017.
