April 19, 1940 ~ March 24, 2024
Dr. Bill Nixon passed away on March 24, 2024.
Born to Marion and Myrtle Young Nixon in Fillmore, Utah, and happily raised on a farm in Holden, Bill was and always will be a cowboy. After attending Millard High School, he earned his B.S. at Utah State University. He earned his M.D. at the University of Utah followed by an exceptional professional career as a pediatric radiologist and a tireless advocate for children. He worked at Primary Children’s Hospital for more than 40 years, where he touched the lives of countless children and families. He served as the President of the Medical Staff, on numerous administrative committees, as Chairman of the Hospital Research and Human Subjects Committee, as Vice-Chairman and Quality Assurance Coordinator for the Pediatric Medical Imaging Department, as a member of the Child Abuse Evaluation Team, and as a consultant for the Center for Safe and Healthy Families. He provided medical assessment and treatment for abused and neglected children and worked to ensure that they received the treatment and services necessary to recover and heal. He served as an educator and consultant to social workers, law enforcement, and prosecutors, and provided expert testimony in child abuse and neglect cases.
Bill’s long and successful career included an internship and residency at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, WA; fellowships at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C. and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles; faculty appointments at the University of Utah Medical School, where he was awarded Department of Radiology Teacher of the Year; a visiting professorship at the University of British Columbia and British Columbia Children’s Hospital; staff appointments at Hill Field Air Force Base Hospital, LDS Hospital, and Shriner’s Hospital; numerous publications, professional activities, invited speaking engagements, and presentations at scientific meetings; and an induction into the Millard High School Hall of Fame in 2018, where he was honored with his own float in the homecoming parade and he tossed the coin to kick off the football game.
Bill was a talented photographer, designed and cultivated a gorgeous outdoor landscape at his home, and shared his home-grown vegetables with friends and those in need. He was a masterful woodturner known as Doc Sawdust, shared many of his works with friends and family, and donated numerous wood pieces to charitable causes, including showcasing his wood turned Christmas ornaments and handmade wood trucks and trains in the Festival of Trees annual auction benefiting Primary Children’s Hospital. He was a dedicated Utes fan (as well as a fan of anyone who played against BYU), and he loved the Utah Jazz, Buddy Holly, and dancing the night away at family weddings.
Amidst so much accomplishment and talent, he always remained humble, understated, and generous. There’s so much that we will miss about Bill: his quirky sense of humor, his limitless fascination with wood grains and shapes, his napkin drawings and notebooks full of measurements and designs, his well-worn sudoku puzzle books, his terrible taste in beer, and his collection of cowboy boots and belt buckles that reflected the roots he never forgot.
Bill is survived by his beloved and beautiful wife of 55 years, Jan, and their two children Christopher and Jeanna, of whom he was deeply proud. Bill was unwavering in his commitment to his children’s education and to providing a solid foundation for his family’s future, and for that, and so much more, they are exceedingly grateful. He is also survived by his sister Bonnie Lyman and many nieces and nephews who loved him dearly.
A special thank you to the Capitol Hill Senior Living Memory Care staff and Kourtney and her team from Ovation Hospice for the wonderful, loving care they gave Bill.
To honor Bill’s wishes, there will be no service. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Bill’s honor to the Intermountain Foundation at Primary Children's Hospital or the Alzheimer’s Association. Alternatively, admire a large tree, make a silly joke that will result in your children rolling their eyes at you, almost finish your sudoku puzzle before falling asleep, enjoy a can of Natural Light, eat chocolate chip ice cream straight from the container with a fork, or plant a native flower in your yard to celebrate Bill’s memory.
