Obituaries

An Oxford 8-year-old lost her battle with brain tumors Friday.

It was not a battle she and her family had to fight alone thanks to fundraisers and support from the community.

Funeral services for Kennis Nix will be at 10 a.m. today at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Saks.

Nix had been diagnosed with brain tumors last March and had undergone surgery and radiation to try to beat the disease.

“It has blown us away how the community has rallied around us and supported us,” said Kennis' father Kenny Nix.

Friends, family and church members chipped in to help the Nix family by organizing softball tournaments, fishing derbies, car washes, yard sales and raffles to help pay for treatment.

“It was definitely something that touched the whole community,” said Shay McCartney, whose daughter Madison was friends with Kennis.

Her husband Mike organized a fishing tournament at Lake Logan Martin last summer to raise money to help pay hospital bills.

He remembered Kennis as an energetic, outgoing girl and his wife said Kennis played soccer, enjoyed dressing up and at the end of May she got to meet cast members from the Disney Channel's Hannah Montana television show through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“Other than knowing she had been sick and she lost her hair, you never would have known if you saw her smiling and playing,” he said. “She was always smiling.”

Kennis had just completed second grade at Oxford Elementary School.

Dovie Borchard, whose granddaughter Jacie was one of Kennis' best friends, said the 8-year-old's two favorite foods were macaroni and cheese from Betty's Barbecue and the “Kennis Special” of rice, lettuce and cheese at Los Mexicanos.

Borchard put together a doll house that was raffled off to raise money for the family and said it's no surprise the community rallied around the family.

“She touched everybody,” Borchard said. “She was all over that church.”

Kennis was the co-emcee at this year's church-wide talent show and loved being in front of the audience, Borchard added.

Jacie's dad Jay Borchard said that right after Kennis had a tumor removed last March, Kennis's parents Kenny and Kasha took their daughter to Disney World.

After being in Orlando a few days, Kenny and Kasha asked Kennis what they could do to make the Disney trip more special.

Kennis said it would be a more special trip if Jacie could be there, so after a few phone calls, the Borchards hopped in their car and drove to meet the Nixes in Florida.

Once there, Jay Borchard said he was amazed by Kennis' unselfishness.

“The trip wasn't about making the trip special for Kennis,” he said. “Everything Kennis wanted to do was make the trip special for Jacie.”

McCartney said he would have to talk to Kennis' family about this year's fishing tournament, but he was leaning towards continuing the event and either donating the proceeds to the family or to a hospital for research.

The Kennis Nix Classic Softball Tournament was scheduled for July 14, but organizer Sheri Howard said she, like McCartney, was undecided about the event's future.

Nix said he hoped the events would continue as scheduled and said that part of the proceeds would go towards the oncology section of the Children's Hospital in Birmingham.

If anything good came from Kennis' illness it was seeing so many people show how much they cared, Howard said.

“It makes you feel good to see that everybody in the community gets behind somebody when they need help,” she said.

Sondra Stephens, a close family friend, said it was Kennis' courage and the family's compassion for other people that inspired the community to action.

“She taught everyone that knew her how to be strong,” Stephens said. “Through this whole thing they would think about others and I think the community wanted to make sure they were taken care of.”

Shay McCartney said the community support for the family should not end here.

“There's nothing that can make it any better for them, but them just knowing that they have all these people thinking about them and supporting them, it can help them in a time like this,” she said.