Nickie Lancaster Receives the First Ever Buddy Killen Memorial Volunteer Service Award

Nickie Lancaster is a mother, wife, medical professional and dedicated, giving volunteer, and is also a post polio survivor. In the summer of 1950, at the age of eight, Lancaster contracted polio while attending a camp. In 1987, she founded Polio Heroes of Tennessee, a program of Easter Seals Tennessee. Today she remains the coordinator of the program not only planning meetings, but also helping re-educate the medical community about polio. As medical schools discontinued education about polio, Nickie, believing that polio is a relevant issue today, has persisted in communicating with the medical field and providing literature to polio survivors in numerous states, four provinces in Canada, Taiwan and Japan.

Left to right: Susan Armigos, CEO, Easter Seals Tennessee; Charlie Chase; Mike Curb; Nickie Lancaster, 2007 Buddy Killen Memorial Volunteer Service Award.

Mrs. Lancaster was the 1998 Recipient of the State of Tennessee Disability Person of the Year, Governor’s Trophy for Employment of Persons with Disabilities. In 2000, Mrs. Lancaster spoke at the International Polio Conference in Saint Louis, Missouri, on “The Benefits of Hot Pool Therapy to Polio Survivors”. In 2002, she received the Tennessean Volunteer Hero Award by WMSV-TV Channel 4. In 2005, Mrs. Lancaster was named to a 12 member International Post-Polio Advisory Committee. She graduated in 1962 from Nashville General Hospital School of Nursing and has worked in the medical community for over 45 years. She is married to Alan Lancaster, Sr., has five children, one adopted son and four grandchildren.