Bickish

Pastor Nicholas “Nick” Bickish Jr., 70, of Sterling, Alaska, passed away Wednesday at the Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.

He was born May 9, 1942, in Butler to Lois (Marks) Bickish and the late Nicholas Bickish Sr.

Nick was a graduate of Knoch High School. He attended West Virginia University and graduated from the Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Mo.

Pastor Bickish served as a missionary in the Yukon territory and Alaska. He started a total of eight Baptist churches. His last congregation was the Jubilee Baptist Church in Sterling, Alaska. He was a celebrated Eagle Scout and an avid outdoorsman. He was a bush pilot in Alaska and Canada as well as an accomplished musician and carpenter.

Pastor Bickish is survived by his wife, Joan (Creese) Bickish, who he married on Oct. 21, 1961; five sons and one daughter, John Bickish and his wife, Deanna, of Centralia, Mo., the Rev. Jeffrey Bickish and his wife, Susan, of Priest River, Idaho, James Bickish and his wife, Tami, of Merdian, Idaho, Mark Bickish of Livingston, Mont., Jodi Fox and her husband, Daniel, of New Brockton, Ala., and Nathan Bickish and his wife, Melissa, of Corbin, Ky.; his mother, Lois (Marks) Bickish of Butler; one daughter-in-law, Sarah Bickish of China Grove, N.C.; 27 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; one brother, David Bickish and his wife, Edie, of Grass Range, Mont.; one sister, Linda Elam and her husband, Brian, of Salmon Arm, B.C.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by one son, Nicholas Bickish III.

BICKISH — Friends of Pastor Nicholas “Nick” Bickish Jr., who died Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, will be received from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Thompson-Miller Funeral Home, 124 E. North St., Butler.

Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at the New Testament Baptist Church, 437 N. Duffy Road, Butler with the Rev. Jeffrey Bickish officiating. Burial will take place in the Brownsdale Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggest donations may be made to the Alaska Baptist Mission, P.O. Box 269, Sterling, Alaska 99672.

Online condolences can be given at www.thompson-miller.com.