Maxine Downing Obituary (1921

Born Maxine Rachel Campbell on May 18th, 1921 in a two-room unpainted frame house belonging to her grandfather in Nicut, Braxton County WV. The second of eleven children born to Carl Herschel and Tina Mae Hall Campbell. She passed away peacefully at Vonderlieth Living Center on March 27th, 2021. Her family would like to thank the staff at Vonderlieth Living Center for the wonderful care she received there. She is survived by one sister, Dolly Buckles of Mt. Pulaski and two brothers, Stan Campbell of Servia, WV and Eddie (Doris) Campbell of Goleta, CA. a son Michael (Janice) Schultz of Cape Fair, MO; daughter Denise Schultz of Harwich, MA, a step-son Bill (Diana) Downing of Redmond, WA; several grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. She married Charles Dean Schultz June 7th, 1939 in Palmyra, MO. Dean passed away on December 11th, 1963. She married Eugene Downing of Mt Pulaski on January 26th, 1967. Gene preceded her in death on July 6th, 2007. Maxine was a lifelong member of the Mt. Pulaski Christian Church, Loyal Daughters, Eastern Star, American Legion Auxiliary, founding member of the Mt. Pulaski Historical Society, past president and district department chairman of the Mt. Pulaski Women's Club. She loved reading and music. Her soprano voice stood out in the church choir. She loved to garden in the summer and complete her handmade quilts in the winter. Determined to continue her education, she left her rural West Virginia home at 14 to attend high school as the closest high school was 15 miles away. Maxine stayed with one of her teachers during this time and kept house to earn her room and board. Then in the summer of 1938 her aunt thought traveling to Illinois with her aunt's brother (Dr. Dennison) and his brother-in-law (John Tendick) would be a nice trip. No interstates, and all two-lane roads made for a very long trip. Once she got to Illinois, she decided this was where she wanted to stay. No family to speak of, but she knew how to cook and maintain a household. Dr. Dennison lived in Lake Fork which made for quite a distance to get to Mt. Pulaski to attend high school. Wanting to be closer to the high school, and working with the high school principal, Lucy Jane Ellis Whitaker asked her to come stay with her and her husband. Maxine paid her own way by doing the household chores. After Dean passed away Maxine took over running the drug store (Dean's Sundries). While Dean was alive, she would help out at the drug store while he was eating lunch or otherwise busy, but as to the inventories, profits, paying vendors-all of this was unknown to her. With two kids to raise, she took this on and succeeded in making the store provide for her and her family of two (Mike 16 & Denise 13). All those who knew Maxine know she was a strong-willed lady who was never afraid of work. She learned to manage a household, sew, work in a cafe as a waitress, and run a retail store on her own. Whatever it would take to provide for her and/or her family she would learn or already have experience in doing. While married to Gene, she got to see a great deal of the world outside of her West Virginia and Illinois comfort zones. She enjoyed the travel and was able to make new friends and acquaintances anywhere. Her time was filled with volunteer work at the Christian Church, and Vonderlieth Living Center otherwise any "idle" time was spent in the garden or quilting. She loved books, any book as she was a voracious reader. Graveside services will be held at Lake Bank Cemetery on Monday, April 5th at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in Maxine's honor can be made to the Mt. Pulaski Christian Church, Logan County Foodbank or the Mt Pulaski American Legion.