Linda Nixon

Linda M. Nixon
Des Moines

Linda Mardell McFall Nixon died Wednesday, December 23, 2015, at Mercy Hospice in Johnston, of pancreatic cancer. She was born August 6, 1943, in Centerville, Iowa, the daughter of Clifford W. and Edith Hogg McFall. She has been a resident of the Des Moines area since the age of two, where she was raised on the East Side. After her marriage to Melvin Lee Nixon “Pete” April 20, 1973, in Bethany, Missouri, they made their home on an acreage south of Des Moines, moving back to town in 2000. For the past 15 years, they have spent their winters at Desert Shadows RV Resort in Phoenix, AZ.

Linda loved her animals and especially the horses the family took on numerous trail riding trips in many states for over 30 years. She had many interests such as collecting stamps and making homemade cards to send to the ill. She loved her Hawkeyes and Cyclones and enjoyed playing spades online with friends. She was an avid genealogist and authored two genealogies, “The Ellison Tribe” and “Hogg-Sparks and Related Lines”. She enjoyed camping at the Iowa State Fair for many years. Her happiest times were dancing with her soulmate, her husband. She was a member of the Iowa Genealogical Society for many years, and served as State Director for the Iowa Chapter of Hide and Seek Foundation, a missing children’s organization to help find missing children. Her greatest love was her family and she enjoyed her church family at Eagle Vision Church.

Memories will live on with her survivors, her husband, Melvin “Pete” Nixon; her children, Martin (Lori) Nixon, William Nixon, Rachelle Nixon, and Misty (Orien-Rocky) Rhodes and Trisha Nixon, Daniel Nixon, and Brian Archer, who she considered her children, all of Des Moines, Iowa; three step-children, Michelle Severns, Michael Schutt, and Todd Schutt, all of Phoenix, AZ; her grandchildren who gave her such joy, Macayla Dawn Rhodes, Nevaeh Mardell Rhodes, Shannon Gunderson, and Lindsey O’Neel of Des Moines, Brandon Archer of Hollywood, CA, Misha Nixon and Amanda Nixon of Des Moines, and Nicholas Schutt, Nathan Severns, Lauren Severns, and Parker Severns of Phoenix, AZ. She is also survived by her great-grandsons, Micah, Evan, Harley, and Noah; brother, James (Anne) McFall of Des Moines; many nieces and nephews and many special friends. Linda was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Gene Stocker; sister, Noreen Bates; nephew, Jeremy Bates; brother-in-law, Larry Bates; and daughter-in-law, Heidi Nixon.

Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with funeral service at 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at Hamilton’s Funeral Home, 605 Lyon Street, Des Moines. Interment will follow at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the family to help pay for a memorial park bench at the Iowa State Fair.

Condolences may be expressed at:
www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

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