Local NAACP leader, co-founder of August Wilson Center
Lemuel O. “Rip” Nixon, a retired IBM executive who returned to his beloved Pittsburgh to become one of the co-founders of the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, died Thursday at age 82 after a stroke.
Mr. Nixon, who was 6 feet 4, was not the tallest player on the 1952 Westinghouse High School basketball team, but he was one of the toughest. A photo in the Post-Gazette sports section in March 1952 showed a Carrick player hanging on his arm.
“Fouling him had no effect, like hitting a brick wall,” said his son, Jeffrey L. Nixon of Tulsa, Okla.
Mr. Nixon, a Beltzhoover native, didn’t let anything stop him from doing the right thing, said his daughter, Monica Nixon, also of Tulsa.
“He would not acquiesce on a major point. Once his heart was set on it, it was full throttle from there.”
The former Yvonne Carl, his wife of 53 years, said she recognized Mr. Nixon was a man of substance when she met him in 1961 at the Loendi Club in the Hill District.
“He was no-nonsense. I was going through a divorce and he was going through a divorce. We agreed that whoever was divorced first would call the other one,” she said.
They married two years later at Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill District, where a viewing will be held at 4 p.m. today followed by a funeral at 6 p.m. (Coston Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.)
Mr. Nixon earned his nickname as a baby who was hard to rouse. “They called him Rip van Winkle,” his wife said.
His parents, Georgia and Lemuel O. Nixon Sr., likely appreciated their only child’s deep sleep. Both traveled as members of the Timpson-Hardy Singers and in 1928 the Pittsburgh Courier called Nixon Sr. “Pittsburgh’s silver-toned tenor nightingale.” The Nixons, who knew Duke Ellington and Lena Horne, also instilled in their son a deep love for jazz.
He played saxophone in high school and in the Army band when he was drafted just before the Korean War. He also played on Army’s basketball team. In 1952, Mr. Nixon was the first black basketball player at Ohio University. He transferred to St. Francis College in Loretto, where he also played basketball. He graduated in 1958 with an English major and minor in jazz.
A born salesman, Mr. Nixon sold Iron City Beer for Pittsburgh Brewing Co. and landed an interview with IBM in 1965. The company sent him to Detroit, where he quickly rose from selling office products to become a junior executive in its business practices division. His job required him to travel to Germany, France and England, and to move his family to Chicago, upstate New York and finally, Connecticut, over a 23-year career.
“He was very proud of his work at IBM,” his wife said. “There were very few black executives in the 1970s.”
Monica Nixon, the fourth of seven children, said she sometimes wished her father’s work didn’t demand so much of his time.
“When you’re a kid, you want him for yourself. Families do make sacrifices for people who are committed, but they are necessary. His advocacy and activism made the next generation’s lives better.”
Her six brothers and sisters are: Christine Livingston of Newport News, Va., William Price Robinson of Chalfant, Stacy Carter of Oakland, Calif., David Chilton of Greenbelt, Md., and Jeffrey L. Nixon and Leslie Adams, both of Tulsa, Okla. There are 14 grandchildren (one deceased) and three great-grandchildren.
In 1993, the Nixons returned to their hometown and settled in Wilkinsburg. He joined the Pittsburgh branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Thenpresident Tim Stevens made him chair of strategic planning.
“Rip was very passionate. He had a presence about him that commanded respect. He wanted everything to be done right,” he said.
In a 1997 Post-Gazette article, Mr. Nixon pushed for more opportunities for black residents. “If you have the opportunity, then it’s up to you to sink or swim.’’
Earlier that year, he joined Ralph Proctor and city council members Sala Udin and Valerie McDonald in planning an African- American museum whose exhibits would be touchable, not hidden behind glass. He was a board member for what became the August Wilson Center for African American Culture until 2010, resigning long before its financial troubles became apparent.
In July 2003, Gov. Ed Rendell appointed Mr. Nixon to the state Minority Business Development Authority. He also was president of the Ambassador Apartments Tenants Association and a member of the Westinghouse High School alumni committee and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
Mrs. Nixon selected two readings for today’s memorial service. Monica Nixon said Isaiah 43:2 is perfect for her father:
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”