A beloved 30-year-old husband and father who served with the Air Force in his home state of Alaska has died about a year after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, military officials said.
Senior Airman James “Nilson” Mixsooke, who grew up in the small community of Unalakleet in western Alaska, was diagnosed in early 2024, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson said in a Feb. 26 news release.
His tumor was determined to be an astrocytoma, base officials said. That kind of tumor originates in nervous system cells, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and the grade Mixsooke had was aggressive, base officials said.
Mixsooke had surgery and was treated with chemotherapy and radiation, base officials said.
“Showing his strength and resilience, he continued to run at least three miles a day and never willingly paused performing his duty and responsibilities for the Air Force or as a father and husband,” base officials said.
Mixsooke’s wife, Jillian, said “he showed no fear or struggle” even as he dealt with “countless medications, infusions, monthly MRIs and weekly blood draws,” per the release. She called him “a fighter to the very end” and said in the release that he “left this world with just as much fire in his spirit as he had when he came into it.”
Mixsooke died Feb. 19 at a base hospital, base officials said.
He arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage in February 2024, around the time of his brain tumor diagnosis, and he worked on a kind of stealth aircraft as a precision-guided munitions technician, base officials said.
He served as a mentor to other airmen, base officials said.
Col. Charles “Shell” Schuck described him as beloved and said “his remarkable leadership and unwavering positivity made a profound impact on everyone around him,” per the release. He added that “Nilson led by example, inspiring his teammates and fostering a sense of camaraderie in even the toughest of circumstances.”
Mixsooke was adopted into a family in Unalakleet, according to base officials.
The family “practiced a fishing-centered subsistence lifestyle, and Mixsooke attended Unalakleet schools, participated in sports and Native Youth Olympics, and served as a camp counselor,” per the release.
He also spent time in Anchorage, where he was born, after reconnecting with his birth father, base officials said.
He and Jillian met at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where Mixsooke earned an English degree, and they married in 2020 and had a son a little more than two years later, base officials said.
Maj. Daniel McGinnis-Welsh said Mixsooke was “a natural leader, and always had a smile on his face. He was a phenomenal wingman, and always put those around him at ease no matter the situation,” per the release.
He “will always be remembered by those he served with,” McGinnis-Welsh said.
After he died, he was promoted to the rank of senior airman and awarded a commendation medal, base officials said.
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