Nixsa Marzan Mills, formerly of New Marlborough, died on August 23, 2024, at Hillcrest Commons after a long illness. Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, she moved as an infant with her parents to the New York City area, eventually settling in Spanish Harlem and later the Bronx.
Nixsa was the eldest of five siblings and an excellent student. She received a scholarship to Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Friends World College. She lived in Kenya for a year and a half and later graduated from Lehman College in New York. She received her masterās degree from Endicott and completed full study programs at both the Kushi Institute and the Four Winds Society. She was a stand-out, three-sport athlete at Oakwood and ran track at Lehman.
Nixsa was a middle school science and chemistry teacher in central Florida; south Berkshire County; and Holyoke, Mass. She also taught Spanish at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School. As a mother of three, she competed in Tae Kwon Do and trained and performed as a belly dancer.
Nixsa moved to New Marlborough in 1992 and married Sam. They were high school sweethearts who reunited after 23 years and first marriages. Together they built and ran an open-air Caribbean Cantina in the village; it became an eccentric, popular, and now-legendary spot.
Family and friends will miss Nixsa greatly. Many hundreds of students will remember her warm, welcoming smile and nurturing heart. Everyone will remember her vivid telling of incredible, colorful stories from her eventful life.
Nixsa’s family and friends will hold a celebration of lifeĀ in the near future.
Strength and beauty = Boriqua.
To send remembrances to Nixsa’s family, please visit the website of Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home.
