Nikki Mitchell
On August 21, 1954, Fort Worth, Texas witnessed the birth of a visionary.
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Nikki Mitchell saw only great possibilities in life and in others. After successful import and artistic ventures in Texas, Nikki landed in Nashville to helm the enterprises of the legendary Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. She served as President of their company for 22 years.
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During her tenure there, she made history of her own with the Bridge of Wings flight. In 1998, she circumnavigated the northern hemisphere as co-captain in a single engine aircraft. In the Russian segment of the journey, this venture unified two countries by flying side by side in formation with two Russian women to retrace the historical 1938 Flight of the Rodina. This commemorative flight served to spotlight the heroic Soviet female pilots whom time had forgotten.
In December 2010, Nikki was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a possible three-month prognosis. Taking the bull by the horns, she consulted with renowned medical professionals around the country and her zeal for life never diminished. After thirty-one months of battling this disease, Nikki embarked upon her final adventure on July 9th, 2013.
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Her last dream was to save others from the devastating disease of pancreatic cancer. Caring about early detection research led Nikki to participate, upon her death, in a floating tumor cell research program facilitated by Johns Hopkins Hospital. Nikki’s donation was the first to contribute a vast amount of data to the scientists. We invite you to be a part of this dream and its realization by joining with the Nikki Mitchell Foundation (NMF) to find a means for early detection and the ultimate cure for pancreatic cancer.
Why the white feather?
Nikki talked about the different times in her life when a white feather would appear, just when she needed to see one as a sign. Her first time in Moscow, when it was still a communist country, she met many new friends. One evening they had a cocktail party, where she was asked about the clichés of the show, Dallas– “Does everyone live in a house like the show?” or “Do you have an oil well in your yard?”
A young man walked up to her and she was waiting on another amusing question. He looked at her and quietly asked, “How do you know you are where you are supposed to be?”
Without a thought she answered, “Whenever I find a white feather.”
He held up a long beautiful white feather. “You mean like this one?” He put it in a leather box and sent it home with her.
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The last few weeks of her life, Nikki had loved ones searching for the leather box and feather. She and Rhonda, Nikki’s friend and, now, the Founder of NMF, had taken it on their flight around the world and had not seen it since.
Rhonda had to tell her that it was nowhere to be found. She calmly replied, “That’s ok. It isn’t meant to be found now. One will show up when you need it.”
In 2017, NMF was unable to arrange one of their annual fundraising concerts and reluctantly resorted to only holding their golf tournament. With only $35,000 from golf in 2016, Rhonda knew they couldn’t give their patients assistance for another year on that amount. But, they moved forward.
In the middle of the tournament, a breathtaking cloud in the distinct shape of a white feather showed up in the sky and stayed the entire day. NMF raised $270,000 that year.
The feather showed back up when they needed it.