Janet Nixon

Janet Nixon, 86, passed from this life suddenly and peacefully on August 19, 2025. A longtime Albuquerque resident, she will be remembered and missed by many.

Janet Marie Sutton was born on Friday, the 13th of January 1939, to William T. “Bill” and Harriet (née Marcoux) Sutton in Miami, Florida. The family moved to Albuquerque in 1948 for its arid climate due to Harriet’s asthma; she became a well-known artist, while Bill’s career with the USPS culminated as Postmaster. Her parents enjoyed a long retirement in the Tanoan area.

Janet was the eldest of three, growing up with her brothers Tom and Joe on Dakota St. SE. She attended St. Mary’s catholic elementary and graduated Highland High School with the class of 1956. She pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma upon her matriculation into the University of New Mexico, becoming a leader in the sorority and president of the UNM Panhellenic Council her senior year; she remained a proud Kappa throughout her life.

Janet married Chief C. Nixon in 1960, and their 20-year marriage produced four children over the next five years, Mike, Steve, Karen, and Greg. A devoted mother, she was constantly active in our educations and activities, from PTA and room mother (all of “us kids” could read by the time we started kindergarten) to Little League baseball, YAFL football, and competitive swimming. Through the ‘60s and ‘70s she kept four growing kids fed as an excellent cook, often clothed us as an accomplished seamstress, enjoyed water skiing during family camping vacations to Elephant Butte and Lake Powell, and stayed active socially with regular bridge groups and bowling leagues. For over two decades she was the proverbial soccer mom before there was such a thing, and the proudest parent in the building when each of her kids graduated Eldorado High School. She always loved animals, nurturing us alongside our menagerie of pet dogs, guinea pigs, fish, turtles, and hamsters, as well as the lizards, snakes, and horny toads we’d bring home from the mesa. Mom raised us by example to be determined, perseverant, and self-reliant, while staying responsible, respectful, and kind; these traits have persisted into subsequent generations.

While raising her family, Janet returned to school in the early 1970’s, earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from the University of Albuquerque and becoming a Registered Nurse. Her 43-year career as an RN began in pediatrics at Anna Kasemann Hospital, where she pursued certification classesto become a surgical nurse specialist, then spent many years in the operating rooms of Presbyterian Hospital, mostly assisting with orthopedic joint replacements. Janet made a memorable trip to Russia and several to Guatemala as part of handpicked surgical teams to perform specialized operations that were otherwise unavailable. She enjoyed working well into her 70s, finally retiring in 2015.

Janet’s seven grandchildren began arriving in the late ‘80s with Jessica, followed by Stephanie, Bailey, Brittany, CJ, Skylar, and finally Ashley in the mid aughts. She was a doting grandmother, and took great delight in hosting “dress up” occasions including annual outings to see The Nutcracker. Besides their “fancy” outings, she enjoyed having them all for “cousin sleepovers,” complete with late night ice cream treats. As they grew, the grandkids knew they could always count on “Gramma Janet” (aka “the Bank of Grandma”) for generous gifts and extra help with school and activities; annual shopping trips for school clothes were a highlight, when they could get anything, they wanted, as long as she approved, of course. She was thrilled when two followed in her footsteps as Kappas at UNM. Christmases at grandma’s house were loud, joyous occasions, crowded and boisterous, made all the more special because they were the rare times when her always-expanding clan would be together under one roof, and she could relish her role as matriarch. While the family grew and scattered, it always revolved around her.

As of her death, Janet’s great-grandchildren numbered four, beginning with Calder in the early ‘10s and since followed by Addi, Teagen, and Nora, with the fifth, another boy, due any day. No doubt this generation will continue increasing, and the next will eventually follow; though it’s a bit sad most will never know her, none would ever be here without her. 

Janet met Jerry Saint in the 1980s, and they have been all but inseparable until now. The sheer number of people they’ve called friends in and around Albuquerque is impossible to count. They’ve been parts of long-standing groups for happy hours and dinners, played any number of rounds of golf, fired thousands of rounds at the shooting range, and shared the love of a half- dozen rescue chihuahuas, often while watching Broncos football. Jerry brought out the adventurer in Janet; besides trips to the mountains and lakes of New Mexico, they enjoyed traveling the world together, experiencing new, faraway places including Alaska, Costa Rica, China, Singapore, England, Scotland, Spain (several times), Morocco, Greece, Italy, and others, including Portugal just a couple months ago. Asked her favorites, Janet would always mention their trip to Croatia a few years back, as well as the time in Pamplona when Jerry insisted on running with the bulls while she took photos and planned his obituary. As her constant companion and soul mate for the last 40-plus years, Jerry will miss Janet most of all.

Janet was a breast cancer survivor in her 80s, yet still rose by daybreak, took her dogs for daily walks in the park, and worked out regularly with spin and Pilates at the YMCA; she possessed a rare toughness of both body and spirit. Janet was fiercely independent and headstrong; she truly did it her way. While the past few years brought some challenges, she lived a rich and uncannily healthy life, making her passing all the more unexpected and sorrowful, but she’d be the first to remind us all that life goes on. Janet Marie Sutton Nixon was predeceased by her parents, sister-in-law Julie Sutton, nephew Coté Sutton, and niece Shawn Sutton. She is survived by her life partner Jerry Saint of Albuquerque, and her two younger brothers: William Thomas Sutton Jr. and wife Diana of  Houston, TX, and daughter Susan Sutton of San Francisco, CA; and Joseph Coté Sutton and wife Karen of Billings, MT, and their children Katie Culbertson and husband Josh, also of Billings, and Jason Rambo and wife and son Gigi and Kae Gable of Oregon. She is also survived by her children: Michael Scott Nixon and wife Keri of Pearland, TX; Steven Mark Nixon and wife Debbie of Albuquerque, and their daughters Jessica Nixon of Albuquerque, and Stephanie Nixon Lopez, husband Chris, and son Calder of Rio Rancho, NM; Karen Leigh Nixon Scanlon and husband Gene of Rio Rancho, and their children Bailey Scanlon McCullough, husband Matt, and daughter Nora of Rio Rancho, Brittany Scanlon of Albuquerque, and Cole Jackson Scanlon of Denver, CO; and Gregory Thomas Nixon and wife Melanie of Bosque Farms, NM, and their daughters Skylar Nixon Bannon, husband Drew, and daughters Addilynn and Teagan of Minot, ND, and Ashley Nixon of Albuquerque.

Cremation will be carried out by the Trujillo Family Funeral Home of Albuquerque. A celebration of Janet’s life is being planned for Saturday, September 27th; further details will be available at the funeral home’s website ( https://www.trujillofunerals.com/ ). In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to either Lap Dog Rescue of NM ( https://lapdogrescue.org ) or Locker 505 ( https://locker505.org ).