Pollyann Nichols

Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Polly was born on July 6th, 1948, at Ouachita Hospital to Edith and James Williams and passed away on April 8, 2025.

She attended St. John's school through the 8th grade and then transferred to Central Jr. High and Hot Springs High. While in high school she was an honor student and excelled in drama and was a member of the National Thespian Society. Her senior year her dramatic talent was recognized by TCU, and she was offered a full scholarship. However, she declined TCU’s offer due to family situations. She then entered the retail field at J.C. Penny’s in Hot Springs. While there in November of 1966 she met the love of her life, Tom Nichols, the general manager of KZNG radio in Hot Springs.

It was a whirlwind romance. Tom and Polly were married on January 7, 1967, by Reverend John Miles at Oaklawn Methodist Church. Polly soon became involved in the broadcasting industry. Becoming traffic manager at KZNG and recording network quality commercials for clients for nearly 58 years, she and Tom worked side by side in the radio industry. While at KZNG, Tom and Polly worked with pageant director Bob Wheeler broadcasting all four nights of the Miss Arkansas pageant assisted by Scotty Mack. They did this for 10 years and fed the broadcasts to a network of stations in Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and Stuttgart.

In 1974 Polly gave birth to daughter Alice at the same hospital where she and Tom were born, Ouachita Hospital. In the spring of 1980, Tom and Polly entered radio station ownership with their partner- car dealer, Joe Edd Hawkins. Together they built KWXI- AM, known as Quicksee Country Radio, in Glenwood, Arkansas. It came on the air in May of 1980 and was the first radio station in Glenwood and Pike County. They moved to Glenwood where their daughter Alice attended all 12 years of school. In the 1990’s they added an FM station KWXE-FM. During their seventeen and a half years in Glenwood, Polly and Tom brought many firsts to the area including the first live election returns. Polly was active in news reports on the city council and formed a committee working out of the mayor's office to showcase the Glenwood area to newcomers after selling the two Glenwood stations in the mid 90’s and buying out their partner. In the 1990’s Polly was the driving force behind bringing local radio to Hot Springs Village. Whether it was finding a frequency, negotiating with Cooper for studio space, Polly did it all. In February of 1994 her dreams came true! KVRE-FM 92.9 came on the air. The call letters stand for Village Radio Entertainment. She served as General Manager and on-air talent teaming with her friend from Hot Springs High School Scotty Mack to start a request show-the Scotty and Polly show. She was also a founding member of the Hot Springs Village Chamber of Commerce. For many years she helped produce and broadcast live election returns from Garland and Saline counties. When illness forced her to retire as the General Manager, her role was passed down to their daughter Alice, who was raised in the business. Alice stepped in and became the new General Manager. Polly was still involved with the station until her illness forced her to stay home. Until the end, her mind remained sharp.

Survivors include her husband of 58 years, Tom Nichols; her beloved daughter, Alice Nichols Bates; granddaughter, Alyssa Carpenter of Benton; brother, John Williams and wife Kathy of Jonesboro, AR; sister, Melinda Fram of Yuma, AR. Various nieces and nephews as well as her beloved chihuahua “Jack” and her KVRE work family.

The family wishes to thank the wonderful team at Dierksen Hospice, Cindy and Brooklyn Lawrence from Village Home Care, and Elijah at Senior Comfort Living for their excellent care they gave our beloved Polly in her time of need. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Polly’s name to Samaritan's Purse and the Garland County Historical Society.

Graveside services will be held at 2 P.M. Tuesday April 15th at Cutter Morning Star Cemetery with the Reverend Chris Hemund Officiating. Pallbearers will be Tracy Simpson, Ron Trull, Wally Towle, Billy Plyler, Greg Nalley and John Harrell.

Honorary Pallbearers are Congressman Bruce Westerman, Congressman French Hill, Johnny Plyler and Doug West.