[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 178 (Thursday, November 17, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING K. DONALD NICEWONDER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 17, 2022

  Mr. GRIFFITH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor K. Donald 
Nicewonder of Bristol, Virginia, who passed away on November 12, 2022, 
at the age of 84. Mr. Nicewonder was a businessman whose success in the 
coal business provided the resources for his philanthropy.
  Mr. Nicewonder was born to John and Lena Nicewonder on November 13, 
1937. He attended Emory and Henry College for two weeks before going to 
work at a surface coal mine owned by his older brother, J.D. After two 
years at his brother's companies, he began two of his own companies in 
Kentucky. He later sold these to McCulloch Oil Corporation and in 1974 
purchased land in Buchanan County, Virginia, and McDowell County, West 
Virginia, with a small group of partners. In the 1980s, he sought new 
coal reserves and started four new surface mining companies in West 
Virginia with his sons, operations that produced approximately four 
million tons of marketable coal per year at their peak. In 2005, Mr. 
Nicewonder and his family sold their mining operations to Alpha Natural 
Resources.
  His interest in coal extended to reclaiming old mining properties and 
reusing them for different purposes, including an airport, a portion of 
the King Coal Highway, and the Twisted Gun Golf Course of Wharncliffe, 
West Virginia. He told the Golf Channel, ``Being in West Virginia in 
mining for ten years, I thought it would be a great gesture to give the 
people in southern West Virginia a nice place to come play golf and let 
people see what can be done with some of this abandoned mine land.''
  Coal constituted just one part of Mr. Nicewonder's business legacy. 
The Nicewonder Group he launched with family and other partners 
controls multiple businesses. The Virginian is a golf course built near 
his home in 1992, later accompanied by a vineyard and a resort. The 
group is involved in shopping centers, office buildings, and condos in 
Virginia and Florida and owns clay deposits in Virginia and Vermont.
  Mr. Nicewonder's business success empowered him to give generously to 
causes in his home region. He supported educational institutions such 
as Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia's College at Wise, Sullins 
Academy, and the Morrison School. Mr. Nicewonder and his brother J.D. 
have also supported health care providers in Southwest Virginia and 
Northeast Tennessee, contributing to the well-being of the region's 
people.
  Mr. Nicewonder is survived by his wife of 65 years, Etta Nicewonder; 
two sons, Kenny Nicewonder of Bristol, Virginia, and Kevin Nicewonder 
and his wife, Kim Grace Nicewonder of Abingdon, Virginia; one daughter, 
Kim Nicewonder Johnson of Bristol, Virginia; seven grandchildren, Reid 
Nicewonder of Los Angeles; California, Paulena Johnson of the 
Netherlands, Ross Nicewonder of Denver, Colorado, Nick Nicewonder of 
Asheville, North Carolina, Carly Nicewonder of Bristol, Virginia, Lexi 
Johnson of Alexandria, Virginia, and Steven Johnson of Bristol, 
Virginia; and brother, J.D. Nicewonder and his wife Loraine Nicewonder 
of Bristol, Virginia. I offer them my condolences on the loss of a 
great Bristol businessman and philanthropist.

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