Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
1932 - 2018 (85 years)| Name | John Wesley “Ray” NICHOLES [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] | |
| Birth | 28 Aug 1932 | Sumter County, South Carolina  [9, 10] |
| Gender | Male | |
| HIST | of Sumter, South Carolina County's oldest active deputy to retire COREY DAVIS / THE ITEM County's oldest active deputy to retire John W. "Ray" Nicholes, 79, is known as the only local law enforcement officer to work under four Sumter City Police chiefs and four Sumter County sheriffs. Nicholes served under former sheriff Tommy Mims, who now works as an deputy investigator for the Sheriff's Office, for 19 years in the civil process division of the SCSO. BY COREY DAVIS cdavis@theitem.com John W. "Ray" Nicholes has been a fixture as a deputy for the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. However, after 40 years of service in law enforcement, the 79-year-old Nicholes, who is the oldest active deputy in the county, is planning to retire at the end of the month. Nicholes, who initially stopped working for the sheriff's office in 1995, has been working as a courthouse security officer for the sheriff's office since 2005. His main reason for retirement is to spend more time with his wife and to travel, he said, while they're both still doing well physically. "The good Lord has blessed us to still be in pretty good health, and we plan to do some traveling around," Nicholes said. "I felt the time was right for me to step aside, and I'm looking forward to a rewarding retirement." Sheriff Anthony Dennis jokingly said he hopes he will look as good as Nicholes when he reaches his age. He praised the deputy for his commitment and dedication to his job over the years. "He rarely missed a day, and we are certainly losing a wealth of knowledge and experience in law enforcement," Dennis said. "He has been an asset to the community as a whole." Dennis has been one of four local sheriffs Nicholes has served under since he started with the agency in 1973. Before becoming a deputy, Nicholes started as a 27-year-old auxiliary officer for the Sumter Police Department beginning in 1960. He stayed with the city until 1963, working under four police chiefs during that time. After 10 years working as a "civilian," Nicholes returned to law enforcement, but with the county. Dennis said Nicholes is the only local law enforcement officer who has ever served under four sheriffs and four police chiefs. "I worked under some good men and enjoyed every one of them," Nicholes said. THE CIVIL PROCESS Former Sheriff Tommy R. Mims, who now works as a deputy investigator for the sheriff's office, was one of Nicholes' bosses. Under Mims, Nicholes worked in the civil process division for 16 years from 1989 to 2005. He was promoted to lieutenant by Mims, and retired the first time in that position. Mims said the best thing about Nicholes was his character. "Ray was such a rock and was consistent in his performance and duty," he said. "He was dedicated and conscientious about what he did. He carried out his job in a way that brought honor and justice to himself and whoever he worked under. Ray also never caused any disciplinary problems and helped anybody that asked him for help." The civil process division comprises several different branches, including warrants, family court and courtroom security. Among the responsibilities of these units are serving various civil and criminal papers, dealing with evictions, serving court orders, family court papers and private service of papers for other agencies, attorneys offices and any other entity that needs a legal documents served within Sumter County. Dennis acknowledged that until he spent some time understanding the ropes of the civil process, he was unaware of the the day-to-day operations. "There is a lot of work that is involved in civil process, but Ray did a superior job," Dennis said. "I learned a lot from Ray about how things work in civil process. Ray really helped build that division up, and because of the time Ray spent in civil process our level of service is better. He also made the transition easier for others that have followed him." Though he never worked with Nicholes, Capt. John Prince, who oversees civil process, understands the positive impact that Nicholes had in it. "I've only been in this role for a short time, but I was told that he was such a good role model, and he was never lazy at work," Prince said. "He will be sorely missed." TIMES HAVE CHANGED Nicholes knows full well that times have changed since his earlier years as a cop. He said the Sumter Police Department only had five patrol cars when he started as a patrol officer. As a patrolman, Nicholes said he was given a whistle, handcuffs and a gun, but officers had to furnish their own slap jacks. He also had to constantly walk up and down the streets instead of riding in a police car. "We had to walk everywhere on our beat, and we didn't ride," Nicholes said. "I had to go into different places where there was fighting going on, but it was part of doing my job." While today's officers are equipped with two-way radios for communication purposes, Nicholes expressed how things were different when he communicated with law enforcement officials, while having to walk his beat. "We had call boxes that were placed on every street that we used to communicate with dispatch by phone," Nicholes said. "If we had someone that got arrested, we would just call dispatch from the call box, and they would send someone to pick that person up." As the years have gone by, Nicholes said, drug-related crime has increased the most in the area. "You always had crime, but it seemed we have more crimes involving drugs going on now, than when I was an everyday deputy officer," Nicholes said. Now, that he is set to put away his badge for good, Nicholes said he's grateful the good Lord allowed him to serve in law enforcement for so many years. "God has been good to me and my family, and we have always placed everything in the Lord's hands," Nicholes said. "I love being involved in law enforcement for all these years. In my opinion, there wasn't a better job in the county. I'd like to thank all of those who have contributed in anyway to my successful career in law enforcement." Reach Corey Davis at (803) 774-1295 Posted in Local news, News on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 JOHN W. NICHOLES Posted Friday, February 2, 2018 2:00 am John Wesley "Ray" Nicholes, 85, husband of Emily Anne Coonce Nicholes, died on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018, at Carolinas Hospital System in Florence. Born on Aug. 28, 1932, in Sumter County, he was a son of the late Tully W. and Edell Barkley Nicholes. He was a member of Calvary Church of the Nazarene. He retired from law enforcement in Sumter after 40 years of service under four chiefs and four sheriffs. Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Bunnie Nicholes Jackson Hewitt (Craig) of Manning; a son, Tommy Nicholes (Linda) of Columbia; two stepdaughters, Sylvia Cromer (Mike) of Woodruff and Marie Hernandez (Joe) of Abilene, Texas; a stepson, William H. "Bubba" Hartley Jr. (Margaret) of Pinewood; 11 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. A celebration of life service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Calvary Church of the Nazarene with the Rev. Arthur Sharpe and the Rev. Raymond Tobias officiating. The family will receive friends from 1 to 2 p.m. on Saturday at Calvary Church of the Nazarene and other times at the home. Memorials may be made to Calvary Church of the Nazarene or to the Bethel Baptist Church Building Fund. Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements. [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11] | |
| Occupation | deputy with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Sumter County, South Carolina [5] | |
| _UID | AF4D8FF6C5B24F23A934D0942DDF39504081 | |
| Death | 31 Jan 2018 | Carolinas Hospital System, Florence, Florence County, South Carolina |
| Burial | 3 Feb 2018 | a celebration of life service was held at Calvary Church of the Nazarene [7] |
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| Person ID | I55343 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 25 Jun 2021 | |
| Father | Tully Winkler NICHOLES, b. 14 Mar 1898, Sumter County, South Carolina d. 18 Oct 1969 (Age 71 years) | |
| Mother | Edell Mathilda BARKLEY, b. 26 Oct 1898, Sumter County, South Carolina d. 30 Jan 1999, Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina (Age 100 years) | |
| Marriage | 20 May 1920 [12] | |
| _UID | 9FCE4B87D03F4DB48E78A1C10B6D6EC7641B | |
| _UID | 9FCE4B87D03F4DB48E78A1C10B6D6EC7641B | |
| Family ID | F36129 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 | Gertrude “Betty” /TREMBLEY TRIMBLEY, b. Mar | |||||
| _UID | EE8F0577E299426687278489062C6F8E06FD | |||||
| _UID | EE8F0577E299426687278489062C6F8E06FD | |||||
| Children |
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| Family ID | F39456 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |||||
| Family 2 | Roberta TURNER | |
| Marriage | 10 Jul 1962 [9] | |
| _UID | 4B3884BF7A5C4E7FB963A5511CB8C89EB5C8 | |
| _UID | 4B3884BF7A5C4E7FB963A5511CB8C89EB5C8 | |
| Family ID | F39457 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 28 May 2001 | |
| Family 3 | Shannon | |
| _UID | B30EF72B4D0A4A02986170D59CA04C61AD2C | |
| _UID | B30EF72B4D0A4A02986170D59CA04C61AD2C | |
| Family ID | F39458 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |
| Family 4 | Emma June LAMBERT | |
| Marriage | 14 Feb 1981 [9] | |
| Divorce | Yes, date unknown | |
| _UID | 7E0D1AE22D6F4CA6912AA793A4DE2534E557 | |
| _UID | 7E0D1AE22D6F4CA6912AA793A4DE2534E557 | |
| Family ID | F39459 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 28 May 2001 | |
| Family 5 | Emily Anne COONCE, b. 6 Mar 1947, Kingstree, Williamsburg County, South Carolina d. 23 Jun 2021, Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 74 years) | |
| _UID | DF11E4AD8B984475B6DC0DBF07A5044BB61C | |
| _UID | DF11E4AD8B984475B6DC0DBF07A5044BB61C | |
| Family ID | F74499 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |
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