Obituary for Rodney Nicol
Rodney Michael Nicol was born on January 7, 1947 in Miles City, Montana. He was 72 years old when he
passed away on October 7, 2019. Rod lived in Vista, California at the time of his death, however, he
spent most of his life living in Oceanside, California. Rod succumbed due to complications while
recovering from major brain surgery.
Growing up, Rod spent some of his childhood in Honolulu, HI as both of his parents were in the military.
His father, George Nicol, was a United States Marine while his mother, Marie Nicol (Caine) was a nurse
in the United States Navy. After a few years his family finally settled in Vista, CA in a house on Beaumont
Street. He attended and graduated from Vista High School in 1965, where he was a stellar baseball and
football player. He went on to play ball at Cal Poly Pomona where he played on the All Star Team during
his sophomore year. After college, Rod enlisted in the United States Army Reserve and was honorably
discharged 6 years later.
In 1977, Rod married Elizabeth Goedert in Oceanside and they started their family in a house on
Pepperdine Avenue. He worked for Doose Landscape where he supervised many of the early and large
landscape projects of Pardee Homes in the North County during its peak building boom. Rod also
enjoyed taking trips to Mexico with his friends staying at his condo in Cabo San Lucas.
Rod loved to invest and study the financial markets. He had a curious business mind and often times
involved himself in small projects around North County. One of his more recent projects was a small
firewood business with a few of his friends.
Rod is survived by his sister, Peggy Contreras, his son Eric (Jenna) Nicol, his daughter Sarah (Evan)
Whitehead and two grandchildren. He has an Aunt and Uncle in San Diego and several cousins in San
Diego and Montana.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 25th at Eternal Hills Memorial Park at 1999 El
Camino Real in Oceanside, CA. Services will begin at 10:00 am with reception to follow.
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