Nichole Marie Flores

1971 - 2024

News story
By Mike Sigov
Blade staff writer

Nichole Marie Flores, the principal at St. Ursula Academy in Toledo, died March 13 in her Perrysburg Township home. She was 52.

She had cancer, John Flores, her husband of nearly 29 years, said.

Mrs. Flores was St. Ursula principal for the past 12 years after working for five years, also as principal, at Notre Dame Junior Academy, which she helped establish.

Mary Werner, St. Ursula president, said Mrs. Flores was "a wonderful colleague and friend" and "a servant leader, always interested in how she could learn and grow in her leadership."

"She was passionate about Catholic education and especially about the mission of St. Ursula Academy, [which is] to prepare our students for college but most importantly for the life of meaning," Ms. Werner said.

Isabel Flores, a daughter, said her mother served "humbly and passionately."

"She loved her job and everything that she did was for the students of St. Ursula," Mr. Flores said. "She was a big-picture thinker, and all her successes at St. Ursula were planned ahead by her and her administrative team."

In August, 2020, when St. Ursula Academy brought its students back for in-person instruction during the coronavirus pandemic, Mrs. Flores told The Blade: "My heart goes out to the public school systems or any institution that's having a hard time opening. Every school has its own story and challenges. We're only doing what we can do for our girls."

She also was proud of having brought a girls leadership program to the academy, Mr. Flores said.

"She was the sweetest, most kind person I have ever met," Tammy Bruce, a friend, wrote on Mrs. Flores' tribute wall on the Walker Funeral Homes website. "Such a beautiful soul. She has touched so many lives."

Born April 24, 1971, in Toledo to Genie and Jerome Operacz, she attended St. Pius X Catholic School and then St. Ursula Academy, where she graduated in 1989.

She later got a bachelor's degree in elementary education at John Carroll University and a master's in educational leadership and administration at Bowling Green State University.

In 1995, she married John Flores, a telecommunications salesman. They raised two daughters. He survives.

"My wife was very loving and giving," Mr. Flores said. "She was always there for us and supported us in everything that we did."

In her free time, she enjoyed playing guitar, listening and dancing to music, cooking, and solving sudoku puzzles.

Mrs. Flores also liked to travel, especially to Europe, including France and Italy, where she took academy students on school trips as a chaperone.

She was a fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team.

Mrs. Flores was a member of Saint Rose Catholic Church, Perrysburg.

Along with her husband, surviving are her daughters, Isabel Flores and Abigail Flores; mother, Genie Operacz-Kheres; sister, Charissa Marconi; stepmother, Sally Operacz, and stepsisters, Madison Operacz and Olivia Operacz.

Visitation will be from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at Witzler-Shank-Walker Funeral Home, Perrysburg.

A memorial Mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, Toledo.

The family suggests tributes to the Nichole Operacz Flores '89 Faculty and Staff Compensation Fund.