Nina Nix Gowell

Nina Nix Gowell passed away peacefully at her home in Wakefield on February 26, 2014, at the age of 90. She was born in Sidney, Iowa to the late Sam and Mollie (Hiatt) Nix and was predeceased by her husband of 60 years, John R. Gowell, her sister Gertrude (Peg) Travis and husband Larry, and her sister Norma Herbert and husband Don. She leaves her daughter Melinda (Mindy) Fitter and husband Jim of Leesburg, VA; her son John (Jay) R. Gowell and wife Elizabeth of East Greenwich, RI; and grandchildren Katharine Feldman and husband Mike, Elizabeth Rackoff, Emily Gowell, Matthew Gowell, and Julia Gowell, great grandson Alexander Feldman, and many nieces and nephews. She also is survived by her late husband’s daughter Meredith Gowell. Nina was salutatorian of her 1941 high school class and attended the University of Nebraska, where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She started her career in the fashion industry in Chicago with her sister Norma. In 1943 she moved to New York where she continued her career with Simplicity Patterns. She traveled across the country by train and bus, and later by airplane, presenting fashion shows and providing sewing and fabric tips for women in department stores from New York to California to Florida. In 1950 she married the love of her life, John, and began raising their children. After moving to Wakefield in 1956, she began a new career as an inventor and entrepreneur, founding Nixco to manufacture and promote her inventions, including Towel Trees and Spot Check. She also started and ran a mail order business for camping equipment. Nina received the honor of becoming Mrs. Rhode Island in 1963, and competed in the Mrs. America pageant in Puerto Rico. In the same year, she was honored to be named Woman of the Year by the Women’s Club of South County. She also became an accomplished chef and gracious hostess of lovely parties, an avid gardener, an enthusiastic golfer, an energetic skier, a willing and able sailing companion, an inspired painter and a voracious reader of books, magazines and newspapers. In 1965 she moved with her family to Pittsburgh, where she launched her energy into causes of social justice and the civil rights movement, becoming the Executive Secretary of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Americans for Democratic Action. She worked on several political campaigns, including as the Western Pennsylvania coordinator for the Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign in 1968, and later the successful gubernatorial campaign of Milton Shapp. Later, she worked as the public relations director of the Carnegie Museums of Art, Science and Natural History of Pittsburgh, then was appointed by Governor Shapp to be the consumer representative on the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board. She then became director of the adult education program at the University of Pittsburgh, a role she truly relished. Among other things, she traveled extensively to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Always game for a new adventure, she spent several months as a faculty member on a circumnavigation with the Semester at Sea program, which took her to such places as China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Greece, Brazil and South Africa. In 1984, she returned to Wakefield to join her husband in retirement. Her favorite activities included being with her dear friends at the Kingston Hill Gardeners, Kingston Congregational Church, Willow Dell Beach Club and the Kingston Book Club. She was also one of the founding members, and served as Board President, of the Courthouse Center for the Arts, and was instrumental in arranging the acquisition and refurbishment of the previously vacant 6th Division District Courthouse in West Kingston into a vibrant arts center. She and her husband traveled extensively and spent many summers sailing with family and friends in local waters and in Maine, and also sailed in the Caribbean. Hers was a life well and fully lived. A celebration of her life will be held at 11:00 on Tuesday, March 18, 2014, at Kingston Congregational Church. Burial will be private. Visiting hours are respectfully omitted. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Kingston Congregational Church, 2610 Kingstown Road, Kingston, RI 02881.