Dr. Norman Nixon, Psychiatrist and Former UCI Professor, Dies

LAGUNA BEACH — Dr. Norman Nixon, a longtime resident who had long and distinguished careers in both pediatric medicine and psychiatry, died here Nov. 9 of a stroke. He was 91.

Nixon, a native of Burlington, Iowa, started his medical career in Los Angeles, where he served on the staff of Los Angeles Children’s Hospital before moving on to private practice in pediatrics in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

While serving as an Army Medical Corps physician at the Santa Ana Army Air Base in World War II, Nixon was struck by the number of combat veterans returning home with psychological problems, so he turned to psychiatry. After retraining at Columbia University in New York, Nixon practiced psychiatry in Philadelphia until 1958, when he returned to California and established an office in Laguna Beach, where he practiced until 1972.

After three years in Hawaii, Nixon again returned to Orange County and was an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at UC Irvine until his retirement in 1980.

Nixon also established himself as a civic leader, serving on the boards of directors of the Laguna Playhouse, the Big Brothers of Orange County and the Orange County Mental Health Assn.

Nixon was also president of the Laguna Chamber Music Society, an organizer of the South Coast Child Guidance Center and a member of the advisory boards of the Art Institute of Southern California and the Laguna Beach Museum of Art.

He is survived by his wife, Virginia Bishop Nixon; a son, William Bishop Nixon of Santa Barbara; four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.