Featured Staff Member- Joan Nicely

     Joan was born Joan Elizabeth Marshall in Marshalltown, Iowa in 1960.  Her family lived one block away from Marshall Drive.  Her father took over Marshall Insurance Agency when Joan’s grandfather passed away.  Are you beginning to see why Bill and Joan Nicely’s son is named Marshall?!

Joan’s dad was not keen on the insurance business and decided to follow in his big brother’s footsteps and become an airline pilot.  When he became a pilot for TWA in 1965, Joan’s family moved to Overland Park, KS.  Upon graduation from high school, Joan attended K-State and also KU!  Sorry MU fans!  After graduation, she and BIll married on a sunny, snowy day in January, 1987.  Joan put her degree in Human Resources to use as a Compensation and Employee Relations Specialist as Bill taught high school chemistry and physics.  Joan ended her human resources career as an HR Director for a Southwestern Bell company in Overland Park, KS.

Upon relocation to Sedalia, MO Joan worked for the local community college as a Dual Credit Director.  She would travel the college’s 14 county region enrolling high school juniors and seniors into college level classes.  These students received college and high school credit after completing the class.  Hence the term “dual credit”!  Joan really enjoyed working with students, parents and high school administrators and thought this was the best job ever.  Little did she know that a better job was in store for her at Westbrook!

When Bill received a job offer from Kearney School District in 2009, Bill, Joan and Marshall relocated to Kearney.  Immediately, Marshall began attending a community college in Kansas City, MO.  After one year he got the aviation bug like his grandfather before him.  Much to Bill and Joan’s dismay, he moved to Carlsbad, California to pursue training to become a flight instructor.  Not that they weren’t thrilled that he found his passion, but why so far away?! Turns out, the weather is much more predictable in California than Missouri and that means more flight time.  As fellow Missourians we can believe that!

Joan is coming up on her third year as an employee at Westbrook.  Bill is in his seventh year with the Kearney School District.  And young Marshall just secured a job as a copilot with Mokulele Airlines in Kona, Hawaii!

Joan never dreamed she would go to “work” to play and socialize with such incredible people.  From the wisdom she’s taken in during Coffee Chat, the casual chit-chat as a group plays Wii Bowling, learning alongside residents during the Mid-Continent Library programs to spending the day with coworkers that are full of compassion and humor, Joan appreciates her blessings.  She says she looks forward to many more years ahead at Westbrook.