JAY DENNY NICEWONDER--BRISTOL

Facing his decline with dignity and his customary determination, Jay Denny Nicewonder passed away at age 97 on May 7, 2025 at his home in Bristol.
J. D. was preceded in death by his parents John Douglas Nicewonder and Orlena Louise Mullins Nicewonder; his brother, Donald Nicewonder; his sister, Wilma Nicewonder Overbey; and his wife of 70 years, Lorraine Burchett Nicewonder.
He is survived by his daughter Carolyn Nicewonder Beverly and her husband Frank Beverly, Jr. of Barboursville; his daughter, Sherry Nicewonder and her son, Nicholas Ozioli of McLean; and his son, Mark Nicewonder of Naples, Fl. He is also survived by numerous nephews, nieces, grand-nephews and grand-nieces.
J.D. and his wife Lorraine were members of the North Naples Methodist Church in Naples, Fl. and the State Street Methodist Church in Bristol.
J.D. was born on April 18, 1928 in McClure. His mother ran a country store and his father operated a sawmill. Lumbering was the primary occupation of his father, John, and J.D. took a keen interest in the business. He recounted a story of when he was a small boy and accompanied his father to meet with a representative of the Ritter Lumber Company to negotiate a purchase. Pointing to a truckload of logs, the man asked the youngster what he thought it was worth. The lumberman was no doubt amused and impressed with the quick reply - “are we buying it or selling it?”
There was another story he liked to tell about the time his father, John, had a sawmill on Lick Creek. On his way to the mill some summer mornings when J.D. was about nine or ten years old, John would drop J.D. off alone in the woods on the mountainside. J.D. would dig and gather two or three big sacks of mayapple roots. John retrieved J.D. and his harvest upon his return from the mill at the end of the workday. Once home they would spread the roots on the roof of the house to dry, after which they would be sold to a produce dealer for resale to China.
The time that J.D. spent in lumber camps made a great impression on him and he recounted stories of working with the mules, watching the building of the splash dams and eating and sleeping in the dormitories amid assorted colorful characters, cooks and mentors. At the camp in The Breaks, now The Breaks Interstate Park, he remembered that lumber was sold to Tennessee Eastman to make wooden cameras.
At age 13 he was riding along on his dad’s grocery delivery truck and at 14 he was driving a coal truck down from a mine and hand shoveling his load into the tipple. He also drove a log truck while he was in high school and described driving a lumber truck to make deliveries after school, going all the way into Tennessee and getting home at two in the morning.
Soon after completing high school, when his father suffered a stroke, J.D. took over the sawmill and its 20 employees. The upgrades and improvements that he made to the mill established a pattern that followed him throughout his working life. He always looked for ways to improve and streamline the operation of things.
Profits from the sawmill and odd jobs enabled him to buy a bulldozer for excavation work. Soon he was clearing land for roads, ponds, schools and the Clintwood High School athletic field. It was while he was working a job in Haysi that J.D. met and began courting Lorraine. They were married in April of 1953 when J.D. was 25 years old. They first lived in McClure, then moved to a new house in Clintwood before their daughters, Carolyn and Sherry, were of school age. Mark was born after the move to Clintwood, and J.D. and Lorraine remained in Clintwood long enough for all three children to graduate from Clintwood High School.
J.D. was an attentive and loving father who took an active part in his children’s activities. One of their favorite memories is of their father taking each of them to collect flowers and leaves for their elementary school class project.
The excavation business led to the coal business, and creation of Little Six Coal Mining Company. J.D., sometimes with partners, including his brother Don, formed multiple coal companies, branched into real estate, and bought shares in regional banks. He and Lorraine moved from Clintwood to Bristol and after retiring from the coal business, J.D. established yet another company, Short Mountain Silica Mining in Rogersville, Tn. He continued to work well into his 80’s, often commuting nearly two hours from Bristol to the silica sand operation.
J.D. loved the outdoors, loved heavy equipment, and loved to fish. He bought a boat and taught his kids to water ski. He tried to teach them to fish, with limited success. How he and his brother Don learned to ski is a mystery, but they figured it out and took immense enjoyment in the sport.
J.D. had discovered Florida and its fishing possibilities when he and Lorraine toured the state on their honeymoon. He returned to Naples, Fl. on a regular basis after that and would pack up the kids and his mother Lena to make the two-and-a-half-day drive, pulling a boat behind. Years later when he and Lorraine began spending entire winters in Naples, he kept a boat on Lake Okeechobee. Eventually he bought property near Fort Myers with an abandoned sand quarry, which, being in Florida, had filled with water to create a small lake. He took great pleasure in bringing his “pond” back to life, stocked it with fish and spent many wonderful hours reaping the rewards. And he didn’t seem to mind the alligators.
J.D. had insatiable curiosity and loved reading history and biographies. He also satisfied his quest for new knowledge and experiences by traveling the world with Lorraine, usually by cruise ship. Everywhere he went he asked questions and delved into the local culture and its people.
Growing up in Dickenson County during the Depression inspired a lifelong desire to help struggling families residing in the rural mountain areas of southwest Virginia and nearby surrounding states. He sent local kids to college and made donations of time and money to the region whenever he was called upon to do so. He was always just as interested in his employees’ families as in their work lives and never failed to ask about their children. Helping people was his focus well before he had the means to engage in large philanthropic projects.
In keeping with his concern for the health and education of children, he was a frequent supporter of local colleges. He supported the Emory and Henry School of Nursing, UVA at Wise, and Virginia Tech. In 2023 the J.D. and Lorraine Nicewonder Lobby was dedicated in the renovated Carriger Hall at Emory and Henry to celebrate the new home of the School of Business.
J.D’s first major medical gift was the purchase of a CyberKnife for the Bristol hospital, a new technology that at the time was one of only nine in the country. Then, in collaboration with Ballad Health, he established the J.D. and Lorraine Nicewonder Cancer Center at Bristol Regional Medical Center. In 2020 the J.D. Nicewonder Family Pediatric Emergency Department opened at the Medical Center. His latest contribution led to the J.D. Nicewonder Family Perinatal and Pediatric Institute at the Niswonger Children's Hospital.
J.D. was also a long-time supporter of Healing Hands Health Center, dedicated to providing medical and dental care to patients with limited or no insurance.
The family would like to express its eternal gratitude to the numerous caregivers who made it possible for J.D. to remain in his home in his final years. They are all angels. We are also grateful to Dr. David Thompson and the staff of the Ballad Health system.
In keeping with J.D.’s wishes, there was a private interment at Temple Hill Memorial Park on Monday, May 12, 2025. On Sunday June 1st, there will be a public Celebration of Life at The Virginian Clubhouse from 3 until 6 p.m.
Memorial donations may be made to the Ballad Heath Foundation, the Niswonger Children's Hospital or Healing Hands Health Center.
The Nicewonder family is being cared for by Farris Funeral Service-Main Street Chapel 427 E. Main Street Abingdon, Va., 276-623-2700.