With his loving family by his side, Nicholas J. Wall, 90, of Marion, Ohio, passed away on Tuesday (Nov. 13).
Wall was born on May 9, 1928, to Lester E. and Hester (Kuntz) Wall in Richwood, Ohio. He attended Richwood High School and was a member of the graduating class of 1946. He was a fierce competitor in the classroom and in athletics where he finished at the top of his class and held the single game scoring record in both basketball and football.
After high school, he attended The Ohio State University. He returned to Richwood in 1949 to run the family business, the Richwood Lumber Co. In the 1950s and 1960s, he partnered with contractor Frank Postell and together they built many of the finer homes in Marion.
In 1949, Wall married his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Dottie (Cheney), who survives. They would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in May. Flush or thin, high or low, they were lovingly devoted to each other for life.
Wall and his brother, Bill, founded Wall Bros Stable in the late 1950s and raced harness horses primarily in the Chicago area. In the early 1970s, he teamed up with trainer/driver Joe Marsh Jr. and raced horses such as Jefferson and Ajax, but his favourite horse was an old trotter by the name of Mudge Demon. He started him 84 times and he never made a break.
Although he remained in harness racing for the remainder of his life, he became a licensed realtor in 1974 and formed Wall Real Estate in 1976. He was a successful farm broker until his retirement in the early 1990s. During his lifetime as a businessman, he didn’t turn his best friends into customers; he turned his customers into best friends.
Wall loved to fish and enjoyed taking his friends perch and walleye fishing at Lake Erie and Escanaba, Mich. His greatest fishing feat was the first and only time he went deep sea fishing and reeled in a nine and a half-foot, 165-lb. blue marlin off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale. He was also an avid golfer and enjoyed golfing with his buddies at Kings Mill where he was known to have made a bet or two. He aced the second hole at Marion Country Club and eagled the third.
After he retired, he and Dottie sold their winter home in Florida so that he could proudly watch and sideline coach his grandkids in all their sporting events. He was, by far, their biggest fan.
Besides his loving and devoted wife, Dottie, he is survived by his sons, Charlie (Myrna), Nick (Jody) and Joe (Kelli); daughter, Julie (Jeff) Robinson; very dear brother, Dr. Lester; sister, Anabel Sult; many nieces and nephews he loved very much; grandchildren of whom he was so proud, Jesse, Bart, Bret, Nick, Ashley Thompson, Erin Russo, Hailey Rorie, McKenzie Price, Trent Phipps, Brooke Vermillion, Haden and Paityn; and 15 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, William K.; and a sister, Rosemary Taylor.
Memorial contributions may be made to Richwood First United Methodist Church, St. Judes Children’s Hospital, or the Standardbred Retirement Foundation.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Nicholas Wall.
(USTA)