Nikki Lou Harvey

Nikki Lou Harvey

Dec. 11, 1954 – Sept. 21, 2022

Nikki Lou Harvey left this world on Sept. 21, 2022, surrounded by those she loved the most. 

She was born Dec. 11, 1954, in Denver, Colorado. Shortly after, she was adopted by Clay and Madeline Johnson and came home to Lovell, where she spent the rest of her life.

Nikki’s first daughter, Julie, was born in 1971. Not long after, Nikki met James Harvey and together they had another girl, Lisa, in 1976. Though their marriage did not last, Nikki and James remained friends until he passed away in 2004. James’ mom, Bunny, was like a second mother to Nikki, and they stayed in touch until Bunny’s passing in 2018.

In 1992 Nikki met her true love when Dennis Gross moved in across the alley. They were married in 2003. They enjoyed many things together, car rides, camping, fishing, TV shows and even the occasional Harley ride. She especially loved spring when everything began to bloom and enjoyed sunny days the most.

In 2004 Nikki and Dennis became certified foster parents, so they could take in their grandkids Brianna and Dillon. Nikki went without a lot of things for herself so that her kids could have all the things they wanted. She instilled a lot of strong values in her kids that they will be forever grateful for. She was their biggest supporter and would help them achieve any goal they had. She was so proud of all their accomplishments.

Dennis turned Nikki into a farm wife when they purchased Red Ropes Farm in 2005. Nikki learned to irrigate, and she would put her boots on and go out every day after work to change water. She loaded and unloaded pipe and hay bales and picked apple after apple to help make cider. The last few years her job was to drive the truck, which resulted in a lot of bickering between her and her husband, but they always laughed about it later.

Nikki had many lifelong friends, most of whom she met during her 37 years working in dietary at the hospital. Every Saturday in the summertime, Nikki and Brianna would pick up her best friend Janice, and they would hit all the yard sales in town. The past few years, Nikki looked forward to Thursdays when her friend Donna would come over. Each week they could pick up where they left off the previous week.

Nikki had the biggest heart when it came to animals. Her pets were her babies, and she spoiled them. After Nikki tamed a feral cat enough to come into the house, they had two dogs and five cats, even though Dennis had said no three cats ago.

Nikki had five great-grandchildren with another to come next month. She would look at pictures and videos of them for hours on end. When they visited her, she would always turn on cartoons first thing in the morning and plop them in her lap so they could watch together. Her favorite was SpongeBob.

Nikki had the greenest thumb. She could make any plant grow. Brianna would often bring plants home for Nikki to save because she would kill them, but Brianna knew her grandma could bring them back to life. She always had flowers around the outside of her house.

She was preceded in death by countless friends.

Nikki is survived by her husband, Dennis, daughters Julie (Eric) Mann and Lisa Harvey (Mark); grandchildren Kaia (Hadley) Fowler, Ryan (Andrea) Bartling, Brianna Harvey, Dillon (Kayley) Harvey, Heather Bartling and Baylee Avery; and great-grandchildren Athena, Brailee, Ellie, Lily, Lukas and Keaton.

Nikki did not want a funeral. Her family will be having a get-together in her memory.