Obituary - Steve Nichols

Steve Nichols, a veteran of the municipal bond industry for more than 30 years with a focus on sales and trading, died Wednesday. He was 62.

Mr. Nichols last served as senior vice president for the Bank of Oklahoma and manager of municipal trading and underwriting for BOSC Inc., a subsidiary of BOK Financial Corp.

Mr. Nichols joined BOSC in 2001 as a trader and quickly moved into a managerial role, according to his boss, Brett Dean, president of the firm.

BOSC traders and underwriters reported to Mr. Nichols. He took pride in coaching and training his sales staff, Dean said.

“He was a good guy all around, and knowledgeable about the industry,” he added.

“He was very thoughtful and caring with the people he worked with, and people, in general,” he added. “He was somebody you like to work with and be around.”

Mr. Nichols excelled at teaching newer employees — those with abundant experience in fixed income but little exposure to munis — about the firm’s products and the municipal bond market in general, according to Dean.

“He’d spend the time it would take, whether it’d be institutional or retail,” he said.

“New people may come in and have lots of fixed-income experience; they may not necessarily be municipal experts. Mainly, he took the time to work with the retail folks. It had a nice impact on our business.”

Merideth Watson, who manages institutional sales and trading at BOSC, remembered Mr. Nichols as a true leader in his group, and as an agreeable co-worker.

“Steve was a very capable trader,” Watson said. “And he was a very well-liked manager. His employees felt he had their backs.”

Mr. Nichols was born on Oct. 23, 1950, in Pawhuska, Okla., according to an obituary published in the Tulsa World.

He received his bachelor’s degree in business and marketing from the University of Tulsa.

Mr. Nichols is survived by his wife, Kay Nichols; his daughter, Kristy and her husband, Scott McKinzie; his grandsons, Connor, Jake, and Ty; his mother, Betty Nichols; his sister, Jeanie and her husband, Jim Ablett.

Funeral and burial services took place Monday.

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