Bill Text: CA SCR105 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Senate Concurrent Resolution 105 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: CHP Officer Archie E. Nichols Memorial Highway.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-07-06 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 117, Statutes of 2018. [SCR105 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SCR105-Chaptered.html

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 105

CHAPTER 117

Relative to the CHP Officer Archie E. Nichols Memorial Highway.

[ Filed with Secretary of State July 06, 2018. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SCR 105, Nielsen. CHP Officer Archie E. Nichols Memorial Highway.

This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 99 in the County of Tehama as the CHP Officer Archie E. Nichols Memorial Highway. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

Fiscal Committee: YES

WHEREAS, Archie E. Nichols was born on September 18, 1919, in Long Beach, California. At 18 years of age in 1937, Archie joined the United States Army Air Corps, where he served for six years, including fighting in World War II, before being shot down in 1943; and

WHEREAS, First Lieutenant Nichols was piloting a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber fighting in Germany when he was shot down on his way back to England after a bombing run. Due to technology restrictions at the time, pilots wore electrical suits to regulate pressure and his suit was damaged in the crash, which caused it to short out and destroy one of his kidneys; and

WHEREAS, During this time, the Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) was recruiting military personnel as the state population rose, and First Lieutenant Nichols was contacted and he thought it was a great opportunity to continue serving the public; and

WHEREAS, Following his recovery, First Lieutenant Nichols was relieved from military service and moved back to California and joined the CHP. Initially, Officer Nichols served as an officer in the County of San Bernardino for one year before moving his family to the Red Bluff area and working patrol there until his death; and

WHEREAS, Officer Nichols was married in 1941 to Madonna Josephine O’Connor, and together they raised 12 children: Susan, Christopher, Dennis, Mark, Mary-Joe, Mary-Ann, Cecelia, Tim, Dan, Therese, John, and Matt; and

WHEREAS, The Nichols family lived on a walnut ranch near the community of Los Molinos in the County of Tehama and raised dairy cows to provide food for the family. Officer Nichols would often get called at home in the middle of the night to go handle an accident because he was one of the few CHP officers living in the County of Tehama at the time; and

WHEREAS, Officer Nichols’ public service was not limited to the United States Army Air Corps or the CHP. He was also a volunteer at the local fire department in Los Molinos, and served in several other local civic organizations. Officer Nichols was very involved in the community, always helping neighbors and friends when needed; and

WHEREAS, Officer Nichols and some other law enforcement officers spent a significant amount of off-duty time on a project painting trees near a dangerous area in the City of Red Bluff to prevent accidents; and

WHEREAS, He and his wife were very involved in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church where a memorial to him still stands today; and

WHEREAS, Officer Nichols’ love of service was passed on to his children as well, with five of his children serving in the United States Armed Forces, the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, and another child becoming a Catholic nun; and

WHEREAS, Officer Nichols’ grandchildren have continued his legacy of service, with his grandson, Dustin, serving as a CHP Lieutenant, his grandson, Steven, serving as a captain within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where his son, Taylor, Archie’s great-grandson, also is a corrections officer, and his son, Christopher, who served in the United States Air Force and was wounded in Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, Around the last year of his life, Officer Nichols was forced to go on a restrictive diet for the purpose of trying to save the function of his remaining kidney, but he eventually died of kidney failure in Los Molinos; and

WHEREAS, CHP Officer Archie E. Nichols passed away on November 13, 1959, after a life of service to his state and nation. He is survived by 38 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of State Highway Route 99 from 9th Avenue to 61st Avenue in the County of Tehama as the CHP Officer Archie E. Nichols Memorial Highway; and be it further

Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover that cost, to erect those signs; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.