Nicole Renae Grothe's Obituary
Nicole Renae Grothe, 38, of Lacey Washington passed away in Manhattan Kansas of unknown natural causes on July 18, 2020. Born February 7, 1982 in Landstuhl GE. Nicole was an Army brat and traveled with her parents from Germany to Fort Lewis, Washington to Korea and then back to Fort Lewis. After graduation from New Century High School in Lacey Washington, Nicole pursued a career as a Licensed Massage Therapist and opened her own business. After 5 years Nicole’s urges to travel got the best of her and she entered the US Army as an enlisted soldier March 14, 2007.
Nicole is survived by her parents Ray & Carol Grothe, her brother Neal, and her grandparents George and Marian Grothe.
After Basic Training at Ft Jackson South Carolina, and Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Rucker Alabama, Nicole was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum New York and was promptly deployed to Iraq for one year. Upon return she was then assigned to Ft. Rucker Alabama in 2009. From there Nicole was assigned to Korea, Illisheim Germany, Carrolton Texas for Recruiting Duty, from there Nicole was accepted to the Warrant Officer program in 2017 and graduated from Warrant Officer Candidate school August 15, 2018. She was then assigned to Camp Humphries is Korea for a year and her most recent assignment was to Ft. Riley Kansas.
Nicole received the Army Commendation Medal six times; Army Achievement Medal five times; Good Conduct Medal four times
Nicole was proud to be an Air Traffic Control Warrant Officer in the United States Army. Nicole was always seeking to make herself and others better leaders. As a non-commissioned officer she was always looking out for her soldiers and challenging her peers to seek excellence and to be self-motivated.
Nicole joined the Army to see the world, and this she did. While deployed to Iraq she took her R&R leave to Ireland for two weeks instead of coming home. While in Korea the first time she went to China and Thailand. Stateside she was always seeking hiking trails and joined Spartans keep in shape and to meet people, also to see the area around where she lived in Texas. On her last tour to Korea she spent time on Chejudo Island on the southern coast of Korea and treated herself to a week in Bali.
Nicole’s favorite music was country, she loved photography, and had a special place in her heart for her brother Neal and her best friend Crystal Weatherington and her son Trenton.
In Lieu of Flowers the family is asking that donations be made to Operation Gratitude.
https://giving.operationgratitude.com/give/140160/#!/donation/checkout
Click on the "in memory of" to be honored and enter Nicole's name.
Nicole was not one for flowers, so our family feels that this would be the best way to honor her memory. Nicole was all about her soldiers and would want others to benefit on her behalf. Please donate what you can every little bit will make a difference in another soldier's life.
If you are not comfortable donating online please feel free to mail a check to
Operation Gratitude
P.O. Box 260257
Encino, CA 91426
In the Memo line of the check, you can put in Memory of Nicole Grothe. — with Nicole Grothe
We hope to continue to honor Nicole's memory for years to come!
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