Fred was called home by the good Lord on 12/18/2020; he was 84. Fred was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He was born in Belleville, N.J. on 08/27/1936 to William and Dorothy Nicholls. He married the love of his life, Lore, in Germany on 09/29/1958 and they spent the next 62 years making happy memories. Together they had 3 wonderful children, William, Veronica and Elizabeth, 6 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

Fred, a veteran and recipient of two medals (Joint Service Commendation Medal and The National Defense Service Medal), proudly served his country for 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He was a naval communications expert, linguist, and analytical decoder. He was honorably discharged in 1974 as a Chief Petty Officer. From there he worked 2 years as a telephone operator until 1976, when once again he was able to find employment with federal contractors at the Naval Research Lab in Oxen Hill doing what he loved best. He was able to use his extensive naval communications expertise and skills to further government research work in the areas of communications intelligence, signal data collection, modeling and simulation and ELINT databases. He eventually retired a 2nd time in 1998.

He was deeply loved by his family and will be greatly missed. He was welcomed home by our Heavenly Father and other family members who had passed on before him and is now at peace. A private ceremony will be held at the Maryland Veteran's Cemetery in Crownsville where he will be interred. The family kindly asks that no cards or flowers be sent, but rather donations or contributions can be made to following charities: Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) or the National Veterans Foundation.