Two New Members Join CHI Health Good Samaritan Foundation Board
Dick Beecher
CHI Health Good Samaritan Foundation welcomes Dick Beechner and Angela Nickel to its Board of Directors. They began serving a 3-year term at the start of the hospital’s fiscal year 2023.
Beechner and Nickel are joining current board members Rita Weber, Chair; P.J. O’Neill, Vice-Chair; Melissa Scott-Pandorff, Secretary; Ellen Gitt; Stephen Lowe; Tim Mannlein; Carolyn Menke; Robert Rycek; Lois Thalken; Jon Watts; and Marsha Wilkerson. They replace outgoing board members Jim Cudaback and Adam Marshall.
Angela Nickel
The CHI Health Good Samaritan Foundation supports the healthcare services, research and education mission of CHI Health Good Samaritan. Established in 1985, the Foundation seeks, receives and administers donations for the benefit of Good Samaritan and its related departments, programs and services. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors composed of local leaders who have commitment to the importance of philanthropy and fulfilling our mission.
More about Dick Beechner
As a player, coach, organizer, promoter and guardian of history, Beechner has never been far from Nebraska high school athletics. The son of Hall of Fame coach Ralph Beechner, he began his involvement in athletics at Lincoln High School (LHS) where he played football and basketball, and was a conference golf champion.
Beechner graduated from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln with a Master’s degree. He returned to LHS to coach, leading the Links to State golf titles in 1957 and 1964. College football coaching positions followed before he took the position of Athletics Director at the University of Nebraska, Kearney and also served as the UNK Men’s golf coach. Beechner worked for Trails West Sports Medicine in Kearney and was the first Executive Director of the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame before retiring.
Beechenr serves on the following boards: UNK Hall of Fame, Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame Foundation and Nebraska Football Hall of Fame. Beechner enjoys golfing, yard work and tending to his 25 rose bushes.
More about Angela Nickel
Nickel was born in Grand Island and raised on a farm in Wood River. She graduated from Grand Island Central Catholic High School and earned a Master’s in Education from the University of Nebraska, Kearney. Nickel taught school for 35 years and after she retired was elected to two terms on the Kearney Public Schools Board of Education.
Nickel and her husband, Dirk, live on a farm south of Kearney. They have two grown daughters and three grandchildren.