Nora Jane Nickle Belnap (1924-1974)

Submitted by Her Sister, Norma Joan Nickle

October 2006

A daughter of Daniel Earl and Lena Marie Augusta Dahlman Nickle and wife of Ronald Foster Belnap, our lovely Nora Jane left us all too soon, and is sadly missed by her family and friends. In her few short years she left a great legacy of faith, hope, integrity, leadership and duty.

From her early years Jane set a path of teaching and preaching the gospel. She graduated from high school at age sixteen, served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oklahoma and then attended Brigham Young University. She was a member of the Cougarettes, Beta Phi and other clubs and organizations.

After attending BYU, Jane, along with sisters, Jean, Joan, Nadyne and friend Myra Crouch, moved from their family home in Springfield, MO to Salt Lake City where they found employment and spent the next few years engaged in family history work and also socializing. They graduated from the John Roberts School of Modeling and enjoyed a brief modeling career in fashion, photography and television appearances. Jane then spent time teaching and preaching the gospel and attending the Salt Lake Temple. Jane and her sisters received notoriety from the media concerning their works and were invited to speak before stake meetings, firesides and more than a hundred wards in the Salt Lake Valley.

Jane met and became engaged to Ronald Foster Belnap. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 13, 1957. Jane and Ron returned to Brigham Young University where Ron completed his degree and graduated. It was in Provo, Utah, their first child, Rebecca Jayne, was born. Their family was completed following the births of three more children...sons Mark Ronald, Troy Daniel and Brett Nickle. Ron’s employment took them from Utah to Slidell, LA and eventually to Burnsville, Minnesota. In Burnsville they established their beautiful home where they would live until Jane’s death, at age 49 years, due to a long battle with cancer. She passed away on March 23, 1974, and was buried in the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her remains were later removed to Salt Lake City, Utah where it lies in peace in the Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery (2350 East 1300 South).

Jane excelled in many areas of life. Her ability to preach without notes and quote scriptures verbatim was recognized by her Mission President, Thomas C. Romney, in a letter to Jane’s new missionary companion, he stated that he had never known a woman with such great command of the scriptures. Her preaching experiences started as a teenager and included field trips to Arkansas with her Uncle Clem Nickle, (our family’s great communicator of the gospel). From these wonderful days of preaching many joined the church. One young man of 15 years of age (Robert Fisher), joined the church, served a mission and supported many young missionaries on their missions, from whence has come hundreds of converts to the gospel. Jane’s Patriarchal Blessing states that she would preach before thousands...and she did

Jane and her sisters had a great love and attachment to one another. A brother in-law, Al Tidlund, in preaching the funeral of the eldest Nickle sister, Evelean, stated that in all his years he had never witnessed such love and bond between sisters as that which existed between the seven Nickle Sisters, daughters of Dan and Lena Nickle.

With all of these early experiences, Jane’s crowning joy and love was that for her husband and children. Near the time of her death she confided to a friend that if she had it all to do over again, she would still have chosen Ron Belnap for her husband. He faithfully watched over her to the end.

As for her children...they brought her great, great joy. She thrilled in teaching them the gospel and would be so proud of them today to see their accomplishments of temple endowments, college graduations, choice of spouses and beautiful, beautiful grandchildren embracing the gospel through baptism and serving on missions, following in her footsteps.

Shortly before her death, she told her sister Joan that she had taught her children everything they needed to know about the gospel in order for them to return to their Heavenly Father. She said it would be up to Ron to get himself back since at this time Ron was only in his forties.

Well done Jane, a great and faithful servant of our Lord !!!

Submitted by her sister, Norma Joan Nickle, October, 2006.