Kemmy Nixon

Kemmy K. Nixon, 87
Art Educator and World Traveler

Kemmy Kemp Nixon, 87, of Naugatuck passed away peacefully on Sunday, April, 7, 2013.
Born July 2, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois, she was the daughter of the late Aloysius and Katherine Kemp and the widow of Robert H. Nixon of Naugatuck.
With a love of design that was sparked in high school, Kemmy studied fine art at the Art Institute of Chicago during her senior year. She then went on to become a member of the Delta Zeta sorority while attending Ohio State University, where she met her husband, Robert “Bob" Nixon. After moving to Naugatuck in 1947, she went on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art education at Southern Connecticut State University, spent a summer studying at the University of Rome in Italy, was named a Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities in 1970, and ultimately landed a position as an art instructor at Hillside Middle School in 1969, where she taught for 20 years.
Kemmy’s students were often treated to memorable slideshows depicting the art and architecture of different countries, information she gleaned while on frequent trips to all seven continents.
With a real zest for life, Kemmy was an avid art historian and enjoyed reading and exercise. She regularly visited Naugatuck’s public library and played an active roll in the Naugatuck Woman’s Club. She danced with the Troupe and was recently appointed Vice President.
Kemmy is survived by her two children, daughter Sheryl Nixon Muzzillo and her husband Victor Muzzillo of Prospect, and son Mark Nixon and his wife Elizabeth, of Orleans, Massachusetts; four grandchildren, Allegra Muzzillo Kosofsky, Kemmy Nixon Trottier, and Samuel and Ryan Nixon; and two great-grandchildren, Alexia Nixon and Cameron Trottier.
The funeral will be held on Monday, April 15, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. from the Buckmiller Brothers Funeral Home, 82 Fairview Ave, Naugatuck to St. Francis of Assisi Church, 318 Church St for a mass at 9:00 a.m. Burial will be in St. James Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Sunday afternoon from 2-4 p.m as well as the morning of the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105.