Nicholas Joseph Hostler, age 35, AKA "Mr. Nick" was born May 14th, 1983 in St. Louis, MO.  Nick passed away doing what he loved, always pushing himself to be better, on May 30th, 2018.  He was the first of three sons to Gil and Mary Kay Hostler.  Nick graduated from Kickapoo High School in 2001 and MSU (formerly SMSU) in 2007, where he was a cheerleader, as well.  He recently completed his master's degree in Special Education, also at MSU.  He was a para-professional at Delaware Elementary, and most recently, a special education teacher at McBride Elementary.  His beloved students and co-workers referred to him as "Mr. Nick".  Nick has a long history with the Midwestern gymnastics community as a competitor and coach.  Gymnastics, combined with his passion for crossfit training, and love of working with children, made the perfect fit for Nick to become a special needs teacher.  Nick's world revolved around his family and his desire to help others.  He is survived by his parents, Gil and Mary Kay Hostler, brothers Nathan (Katie Brookshier), and Neil (Kara Hubler), nephews and nieces (Cayden, Preston, Sophia, Mason, and Olivia), and numerous loving cousins, aunts , and uncles.  He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents (Gilbert Sr. and Mary Edna Hostler) as well as his maternal grandparents (Joseph and Dorothy O'Neill).

Memorial services will be held at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Springfield, on Monday, June 4, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. Visitation will be Sunday, June 3, 2018, from 2:30- 5:30 p.m. with a prayer service to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donation checks may be made payable to:
"Crossfit RTBVIP" with "Nick Hostler Memorial Scholarship" in the subject line.

Please send donations to:
Crossfit RTBVIP

4234 S. Reed St.

Springfield, MO 65804

Donations can also be made online at Paypal.com.  Please login to (or create) your account and send donations to:

nickhostlermemorialfund@yahoo.com

Here are a just a few memorial testaments to Nick from his sphere of influence…

It is with deep sorrow to let our gymnastics community know that former Springfield Gymnastics Coach, Nick Hostler passed away today.  Nick was a huge part of Missouri and Kansas Gymnastics as well as well as Arkansas Men's Gymnastics and, of course, our Region 3 Family.  He touched all our lives that knew him as well as our gymnasts' lives through competitions, clinics, and those wonderful summer camps at his gym.  Nick left coaching to pursue another passion and has been a special education teacher in Springfield, but was still plugged into the gymnastics world.  He was planning on becoming a judge this coming year and would have been a great one.  Please pray for his family and loved ones during this unexpected hard time.  (George Edelen – Arkansas State Chairman)

The world lost one of the most amazing people, yesterday!!  Nick Hostler was Troy's gymnastics coach for many years while Troy was doing gymnastics.  We started at the gym because it was suggested as a way for Troy to work out some of his anxiety and to teach the strength to control not only his body learning skills, but his mind.  He was a huge blessing to our family and even though we hadn't seen him in a while, we continued to love him.  He was able to reach Troy in ways that we couldn't.  Troy was there 3-4 days a week for like 4 hours each practice.  Nick saw and interacted with Troy Smith more than almost anyone at that time.  I don't know that we would've done without him in our lives.  Then he went on to teach children with severe disabilities.  He had a huge heart for children and for watching them grow.  I have met very few people like him.  He genuinely cared about every child he taught whether gymnastics or his students at school.  He was kind, caring, and friendly to everyone he knew.  We are going to miss him!  God truly received an angel yesterday.  Rest in peace Nick!  (Jennifer Smith – mother of former gymnast)