THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 38, NO. 31 | MARCH 24, 2017
TRAGIC SHOOTINGS
led couple to re-examine their priorities
K
ANSAS CITY, Kan. — Sometimes people ask for a sign from God. Sometimes they don’t — and they get
one anyway. Major Curtis Nicholson, of the Kansas City Kansas Police Department, received a sign that eventually put him and his wife Michele on the path to the Catholic Church. For the Nicholsons, the first steps down that path began with heartbreak. Curtis is a member of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division. Michele is a budget analyst with the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department. The law enforcement community is like a big family. When one member is injured, the whole body feels the hurt. This was especially so when Detective Brad Lancaster was shot and killed in May 2016, and Capt. Robert D. Melton was shot and killed in July 2016. The Nicholsons knew both of the murdered officers. Curtis worked with Lancaster directly and he investigated both of the deaths. “Shortly thereafter, I was driving down I-70 on a hunting trip,” said
STORY BY JOE BOLLIG Curtis. “I saw this huge billboard, just as big as can be. It said: ‘Where will you spend ETERNITY?’ “I pretty much knew the answer,” he said, “and I didn’t like it.” So, where did he think he’d spend eternity? “In hell,” said Curtis. “I was never baptized or spent a day in church. I prayed on rare occasions. “So, yeah, that’s what really
propelled me to go forward.” The climate of hate and violence directed toward the law enforcement community also played a role in their conversion, said Michele. “Every day, it was another officer. . . . Like a big cloud of doom and gloom over us,” she said. “It was never-ending.” Not only did the Nicholsons not
go to church, they didn’t belong to one. Neither had ever been baptized and had only brief and incidental brushes with religion since they were children. Curtis had occasionally thought about going to a church, but never actually followed through on it. Now, things were different. “I told Michele that I wanted to start going to church, and she was open to it,” said Curtis. “I decided that I wanted to look at the Catholic faith instead of others.”
Churchless by design
LEAVEN PHOTO BY JOE BOLLIG
Major Curtis Nicholson, of the Kansas City Kansas Police Department, and his wife Michele, a budget analyst with the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department, are now on their way to entering the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil.
“I was exposed to church at a young age by some family friends, and went to church periodically,” said Curtis. “I’d been to summer church camps and Bible studies.” His family, however, very rarely went to church. “My parents were good parents, but they never led me to anything — to church or down a career path,” he said. “It was up to me to make decisions about what I wanted to do with my life.” “It was the exact same for me,” said Michele. “I remember my mother saying that my father didn’t want to push any religion on us. He >> See “COUPLE” on page 5