James Christian Nissen, a former UM-Dearborn faculty member and U-M alumnus, has died. Nissen, of Ann Arbor, was 63. Born May 12, 1961, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jim and his family moved to Ann Arbor in 1969 where Jim spent his last 55 years in the town he called “the greatest city on Earth.”

A 1979 graduate of Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Jim went on to the University of Michigan where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and finally his Ph.D. in organ performance. During these years, Jim played trumpet in the Michigan Marching Band and conducted the pep band during football games.

Jim became a graduate assistant for the band when his marching days were over. He conducted the pep band that fired up the crowd at Yost Ice Arena during Michigan hockey games. The first song Jim learned to play on the trumpet was “The Victors.”

In 1984 Jim earned a Fulbright scholarship to study in Paris under renowned French organist and composer Jean Langlais. In Paris, Jim was privileged to have played on the Grand Organ of the Notre-Dame Cathedral. For several years after graduation, Jim was the organist at First Congregational Church in Ann Arbor.

Jim had a passion for learning and performing that led him to a career in teaching at both Schoolcraft College and UM-Dearborn. Jim loved teaching and often used humor to keep his students focused and engaged, making his classes popular among students. At the end of the winter term, Jim took his students to Europe so they could see firsthand what they had learned in the classroom. Jim made 20 such trips over his teaching career.

When he wasn’t teaching, Jim kept himself busy composing music, conducting the Ann Arbor Concert Band, acting in the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, the University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society, and Friends of the Michigan League Dinner Theatre. Jim was also a talented carpenter, painter and artist, and was able to do just about any home improvement project.

Jim was an avid Detroit Lions, Tigers and Red Wings fan but his heart bled maize and blue. He, along with his dad and friends Garde and Ellen, could be heard cheering on the Wolverines each home game from section 19, row 52 for over 30 years.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Eugene W. Nissen (2021) and Patricia A. Bonnet (1997); brother, Jon (1995); and most recently his sister, Beth, in January 2025. He is survived by his sisters, Mary Nissen Whaley from Reston, Virginia; Anna Nissen Barrett from Ollon, Switzerland; Eva Nissen Lewin from Stockholm, Sweden; and brother, Steve Nissen from Westland, Michigan; along with several nieces and nephews.

He will be remembered for his many talents, passion for the arts, his energy and thirst for learning and teaching, and his love for Ann Arbor, that “greatest city on Earth.” One last Go Blue!

A memorial time and date is yet to be determined.

— Submitted by Nie Family Funeral Home