Nellie Schachowskoj, 70, a resident of Los Alamos, passed away peacefully from this life to the next on Thursday, June 8, 2016 after a long courageous struggle with lung cancer. Nellie was born on October 12, 1945 in Hamburg Germany. Nellie's family, displaced from the Ukraine during WWII, immigrated to the United States in 1950 and located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her parents Tatiana and Theodore Prokopov taught at the University of Minnesota where Nellie received her Bachelor's degree in Linguistics. After completing graduate school, one of Nellie's first jobs was working in the American/Russian Cultural exchange teams during the Nixon administration. Nellie and her family moved to Los Alamos in 1994. Nellie worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a Russian Linguist and as the team lead for the language resource team. She retired in June 2014. Nellie was a wonderful lady, always gracious, kind, patient, giving and considerate. She quietly taught our family how to think of others before ourselves, how to fill our lives with harmony, beauty and love. Everything Nellie touched she made better and brighter. We will miss her so much. Nellie is survived by her husband Allyn Pratt of Los Alamos; daughter and son, Marina and Alexander; step-daughters, Rebecca West, Stephanie Williams, and Stacie Billington; great-grandchildren, Sophia West, Carter and Zachery Williams; sister, Katherine Loayza; niece and nephew, Alex and Nico all of Austin TX, brother, Victor Prokopov of San Francisco Calif. Funeral Service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 11, 2016 at the St. Juliana of Lazarevo Church 3677 West Alameda, Santa Fe NM 87507. A memorial will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 17, 2016 also at St. Juliana of Lazarevo Church. The family wants to thank the Los Alamos hospice nurses for their compassionante care. Nellie Schachowskoj has been entrusted to the care of their loved one to the DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Espanola Valley. 505-747-7477-devargasfuneral.com