Josephine Wallace Kixmiller, 96, of Venice, FL passed away February 1, 2017. She was born April 14, 1920, the daughter of Julie Farwell and Walter F. Wallace, and grew up in Winnetka, Illinois. She attended Vassar College. In 1942, she married Richard W. Kixmiller (1920 - 1994) and lived for many years in Summit, New Jersey. She summered on Fishbladder Island on Lake Champlain where she banded tree swallows and submitted her data to Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She moved to Manasota Key in Englewood, FL in 1980 and quickly became a stalwart on the sea turtle patrol. She was an early supporter of the Hermitage Artists Retreat on Manasota Key. She had a great love of nature and actively supported a number of nature conservation organizations.
She was the proud mother of three children and five grandchildren. Her memorial will be private and she will be interred at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Evanston, Illinois. Donations in her memory can be made to: Coastal Wildlife Club, P.O. Box 2022, Englewood, FL 34295; The Hermitage Artists Retreat, 6660 Manasota Key Rd., Englewood, FL 34223, or to the Florida Audubon Society, 1101 Audubon Way, Maitland, FL 32751.
