Elke Nickman

Elke was the first born to Dale and Ellen Rogers coming into this world on August 18th ,1963. She grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and graduated from Farragut High School in June of 1981. After High School Elke attended the University of Tennessee and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in August of 1986.

Elke moved to Dallas in the spring of 1993 and worked as a Human Resource professional at Atmos, Page Net, Sun Micro Systems and lastly at Oracle before her passing. It was the perfect profession for her as she had great compassion for her fellow team members.

On May 13th, 2004, Elke blessed Steve and became his wife. In December of 2009 they brought Donald into his new forever home and they became a family. As Donald made friends, they would come to the house to goof around and play video games while his mother made sure the boys were staying out of trouble and had enough to eat. Elke was Donald’s biggest cheerleader and loved him dearly.

One day it was time for a dog. After a visit to the shelter a golden Labrador Retriever found a new home. At first, Bailey was the responsibility of the boys in the house. Over time and with Elke working from home she became extremely attached to Bailey. One of Elke’s great joys was walking Bailey around the neighborhood meeting other dog walkers and kids playing outside. Everyone wanted to pet Bailey and Elke was a proud momma.

Elke had a big and compassionate heart and worried about everyone and was a friend to many. She would spend countless hours talking to family and friends supporting them and being a sounding board for matters in their lives. There are many long-lasting friendships that were made over the years.

Elke was involved with several ministries at LifePoint Church serving as a Stephens Minister, a guide to visiting church explorers and hosting small group bible studies in her home. She also spent many years as a volunteer for Big Brothers & Big Sisters in Knoxville and Dallas. In 1989 she won the Big Sister of the Year Award in Knoxville. But her most cherished and challenging role was being “Momma Hawk” to Donald.

She was also very passionate about dogs without a home. Elke spent time volunteering at local shelters helping those who were caring for the animals. She abhorred puppy mills and advocated for pet shelter adoption.

A favorite pastime of hers was food. She was a self-proclaimed “foodie” and enjoyed going to restaurants and collecting all sorts of recipes from family and friends, TV shows and the internet. Her favorite book was a cookbook with big colorful pictures of all the dishes. Elke loved to experiment in the kitchen presenting her family with her culinary creations, some exceptional and others so-so. If the picture looked good, she wanted to make the dish.

Elke’s faith in the Lord was strong. Through her journey she always knew God had a plan for her and she would one day be called home to spend eternity in Heaven. She was not afraid and fought the battle to the end.

We give all the glory to God in times of joy and grief. We have a great God!

Elke is survived by her husband Steve and their son Donald, her mother Ellen, her brother Tim Rogers and his partner Alice Power and their sons Alex and Benji, her father Dale Rogers and his wife Jean Ellen, step sister Susan DiFranco and her husband John and her daughter Kendall, in-laws Tom and Sue Nickman, brother-in-law Mark Nickman and his daughter Alana, sister-in-law Julie Harmon and her husband Scot and their children Darrian, Makayla, Noah and Marissa.

There will be a memorial service to celebrate Elke’s life on Friday, January 10, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. at Life Point Church, 4501 Hedgcoxe Road, Plano, Texas 75024 with Pastor George Feiser officiating.

If desired contributions may be made in Elke's name to SPCA of McKinney Texas, 8411 Stacey Road, McKinney, Texas 75070 or 214-742-7722.