Bill was born October 10, 1892, on a farm near Bristow, Iowa. At the age of 24, he was elected the youngest County Recorder in the State of Iowa. He taught school for five years, served in the US Navy in WW I, and was reelected as the Butler County Recorder while still serving in the Navy.
Nicholas married Viola Folkers on May 1, 1920, at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. They established several chicken hatcheries throughout North Iowa, including one at Allison, another at Cedar Falls and one at Mason City.
In 1931, Bill purchased the Belmont Farm (the present site of the Mason City Airport) and started growing and processing turkeys. In 1938, he built the first climate-controlled poultry facility in the United States. In addition to growing Iowa corn and soybeans, during the 1960s he expanded agriculturally into the state of Florida, producing oranges and grapefruit.
Bill was elected to the Iowa Legislature in 1948. He was elected Lt. Governor in 1951, serving with Governor William Beardsley, and again in 1957, when he served with Governor Hershel Loveless. In 1959, Governor Harold Hughes appointed him to the Iowa State Highway Commission.
Bill Nicholas represented the State of Iowa at the moth-balling ceremony for the USS Iowa. He was entertained in then Governor Ronald Reagan’s California office where they reminisced about their friendship while “Dutch” Reagan was a sportscaster for WHO radio.
Bill and Viola also traveled around the world and shared their experiences with churches and service clubs around the state. They were evacuated from a hotel in Hanoi when fighting broke out preceding the Vietnam War.
Bill was a member of the United Methodist Church, the Clear Lake Rotary Club, and Commodore of the Clear Lake Yacht Club. He was also a fifty-year member of the Masonic Lodge and several other local organizations.
The dreams of an Iowa farm boy, who through hard work and perseverance attained the respected office of Lt. Governor not once but twice (one time with a Republican and one time with a Democrat)peaked, bringing him the greatest satisfaction, when his daughters and son and their families chose to settle in North Iowa to pursue their own dreams.