SALLY ANN NIX Oct. 5, 1935 – March 9, 2023
Sally Ann Nix passed away peacefully in her sleep in Campbell, California on March 9, 2023, at the age of 87. Sally was born in Davenport, Iowa on October 5, 1935, and was the only child of her parents, George and Ruth Wood.
Sally graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota and was a middle school teacher in San Diego, California before obtaining her master’s degree in education from the University of California, Berkeley. There she met her husband, James Rayford “Ray” Nix whom she married on August 19th, 1961. After living in Denmark for a year and traveling throughout Europe, Sally and Ray moved to Los Alamos in 1968 where Sally was a resident until 2016.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 2008. She is survived by her daughter, Patricia of Santa Fe, and her son, David, his wife, Nan, and two grandchildren, Caitlin and Connor, of Campbell, California.
Sally enjoyed travel. She and Ray visited every continent together except Australia, including trips to China, Tibet, Africa and even to see penguins in Antarctica. She led her family on adventures all over Europe from 1980-81 when the Nix family lived in West Germany while Ray was on a year-long sabbatical.
Her love of animals was demonstrated by artistic photos she took in the wild, her nurturing of the wild animals and birds who visited her yard, her volunteerism with the Los Alamos Friends of Shelter and Companion Animals, and her loving devotion to many adopted cats over the years.
Sally was also an avid reader. She channeled her love of reading into both her children then later into volunteer work with both adult literacy programs and the Friends of the Los Alamos Public Library bookstore.
A graveside ceremony will take place at 12 noon on Tuesday, June 27 at Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos where she will be laid to rest next to her husband. The ceremony is open to anyone who would like to remember Sally.
In lieu of any flowers, please consider a donation to the Los Alamos Friends of Shelter and Companion Animals.