Pillars of Ridgeland community married 65 years died within 24 hours of each other
Sitting together on New Year’s night, Freddie and Joan Nimmer watched their beloved Clemson Tigers play the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl.
The Nimmers, high school sweethearts married for more than 65 years, never missed a game, and boy, did they love Clemson sports.
Football was a favorite, and baseball had a special place in their hearts, too. After all, Freddie was on the team for a while during his college days before giving it up for marching band. Now, one of their grandsons was a top player on the golf team.
Any day was a good day if the Tigers were winning.
The Sugar Bowl wasn’t one of those days, but the Nimmers didn’t care about Clemson’s 49-28 defeat. They were just happy to be together cheering on their team.
That was their last date night, son Bill Nimmer recently told The Island Packet.
Less than two weeks later, Freddie, 87, and Joan, 89, died in separate hospitals within 24 hours of each other.
Joan’s health had been deteriorating in recent years, making the once spry, animated teacher unable to move around as freely as she once did. Meanwhile, Freddie’s heart was struggling. He underwent surgery in September and had been in and out of the hospital since.
In addition to those health issues, Freddie and Joan tested positive for COVID-19 soon after Christmas, Bill said.
In the days before to their deaths, he remembers his mom saying: “How wonderful would it be for the Lord to take us together?”
“I have no doubt they kind of had a pact,” he said. “Now they’re reunited.”
Before their deaths, Freddie was in the Medical University of South Carolina’s hospital in Charleston and Joan was in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah.
Although they couldn’t be together, they Facetimed one last time on the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 10, before Freddie died around 5:30 p.m.
The next morning, family members traveled from Charleston to Savannah to tell Joan in person.
She died within an hour, Bill said.
“She would always tell us, ‘I hope Dad passes before me because I don’t know who would take care of him if I’m not around,’” Bill laughed. “I think after that, she was ready to go.”
The deaths so close together were a shock to the family, but they are slowly healing.
“We have strong faith, so to know they are together in heaven and out of pain and out of suffering is a comforting thing,” Bill said.
Freddie and Joan were both pillars in the Ridgeland community, woven into its fabric stitch by stitch, year by year.
The family’s name recognition likely comes from Nimmer Turf Farm Inc., which Freddie founded in 1985 and grew into the Southeast’s leading sod farm. Bill and his brother Tony now run the business.
About 30 years earlier, when the couple moved back to Ridgeland in 1956 after Freddie graduated from Clemson and served in the U.S. Air Force, Freddie started his career as an automobile salesman, eventually working his way up to become the Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealer for the area.
He also founded the Swingtime Orchestra in 1988, living out a dream of playing with some of the finest musicians and vocalists in the Lowcountry.
All the while, Joan, a Limestone University graduate, taught generations of elementary school students, working in Richland County schools, Jasper County schools, and at Thomas Heyward Academy.
“They did a lot together, but they also had their own things,” Bill said. “Both were their happiest when they were helping other people, though.”
They poured their hearts and time into helping their neighbors, earning the Sgt. Jasper Award for community service in the ‘90s. But the Nimmers’ greatest joy was their large family.
They nurtured and loved their four children, 10 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren every moment possible.
On Monday, the Nimmers were buried side by side in the Grahamville Cemetery after a funeral mass at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Bluffton. As they had requested, their graveside service was an upbeat celebration of the couple’s lives and their dedication to the community rather than a somber event, Bill said.
The service was filled with music as funeral director and former Jasper County coroner Martin Sauls played the saxophone, Freddie’s old band members performed songs he loved, and one of his friends played Taps as part of Freddie’s full military funeral honors, which included a flyover. A gospel choir also performed, just as Joan wanted.
Dozens of friends and family members were there.
“The outpouring of love and support and admiration for those two has been unbelievable,” Bill said. “They really did live a storybook life.”
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 9:04 AM.
