It is with immense sadness that we announce the sudden passing of K. Neola Thacker (Nicki), 91, of Perth, Ontario, on December 27, 2022, after a brief illness at the Ottawa Civic hospital.
Nicki was an educator, a writer, and a great story-teller. Born in Montreal on May 19, 1931, to parents Dr. CRE Cassidy and Kathleen Cassidy (Morton), she grew up in NDG and went on to earn a BA from Sir George Williams University (now Concordia) in Montreal.
She married Douglas Thacker in 1955 and had two sons, Stephen and Derek. The family moved to Lorraine, QC in the early sixties just as the streets of this new community were being paved. She began substitute teaching at Rosemere High School in the mid-sixties and continued teaching there through the late-eighties. After Doug retired in the early nineties, the couple moved briefly to St. Albans, VT and then on to Westport, ON where they settled in 1996.
Throughout her life, Nicki possessed a great curiosity, was always asking questions, stating opinions, and never stopped wondering why things were the way they were. While teaching high school, she enrolled in high school music classes and learned to play the flute. She was the author of numerous screen plays, short stories, and wrote and published two children’s books.
Nicki is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Doug, and her brother Neal (and sister-in-law Merle).
She is survived, sadly missed, and lovingly remembered by her sons Stephen (Johanne) and Derek, by grandchildren Sarah and Philip, her brother Richard (Nancy), and by legions of friends from Rosemere, QC, Westport, ON, and Perth, ON.
The family would like to express their gratitude and special thanks to the Emergency and Intensive Care Units of the Ottawa Civic Hospital for their unrelenting help and amazing care.
Visitation will take place at Lyons Funeral Home in Westport on Friday, January 6, 2023 from 4pm – 7pm. A funeral service will be held at the Olivet Baptist Church in Westport on Saturday, January 7 at 11am.
we were very sorry to read that Nicki passed away.
Our sincere sympathy to Derek, Steve and Joanne.
Gary and Debbie Williams