COAL CITY, Ill. — Dr. Jessie K. Nixon, 85, of Sarasota, Fla., passed away Feb. 2, 2013.

Born Sept. 26, 1927, in rural Coal City, Ill., Jessie was a daughter of the late Thomas McLuckie Sr. and Rose Marta-McLuckie. She was a professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and retired to Hawaii, then Florida.

She is survived by her nephews, Glen McLuckie of Mazon, Ill., and James Pantaleone, Ph.D, and his wife, Sharyl, and their children, Robert Pantaleone, David Pantaleone, and Scott Pantaleone, all of Anchorage, Alaska; nieces Carol Pantaleone of Batavia, Ill., Jill McLuckie of Gurnee, Ill., and Diane McLuckie, of Mazon; and a sister-in-law, Darlene McLuckie of Mazon.