Maxine Watkins July 23, 1923 - November 13, 2018
Grandma's health had been failing her in recent months and she passed away in the early morning on November 13. Below is the eulogy I gave at her funeral.
"Thank you all for being here today as we celebrate the life of Grandma Maxine.
Fifteen years ago we were all together as we said goodbye to Grandpa Willis. As
Caleb pointed out it is certain that Willis has been sitting at the gates of heaven
for the past 15 years honking the horn of a Ford Taurus as he waited on Maxine.
Just as he did after every family gathering here on Earth.
Grandma graduated as the valedictorian of her high school class here in
Keosauqua in 1940. Willis always said that he married her because she was the
smartest girl in the class. And I don’t think he was kidding. While she and Grandpa
lived in California she attended Long Beach City College and when they returned
to Iowa she enrolled in Business School in Davenport. She did not graduate but
keep in mind, in the 1940s less than 10% of women in the U.S. attended college.
I don’t remember my Grandma as someone who baked or knitted. I remember
her as someone who was always slightly ahead of her time. She read a lot and
stayed in tune with current topics. She lived a healthy lifestyle before it was the
popular thing to do. She walked regularly with a distinctively fast pace and
swinging arms. She watched her cholesterol levels before most people knew what
cholesterol was. She drank skim milk, used low-fat mayonnaise and snacked on air
popped popcorn. While many grandchildren may recall the baked goods at their
grandmother’s house I remember fruit soup on Christmas morning and my
brother’s favorite snack at Grandma’s as being a container of frozen strawberries.
This healthy lifestyle clearly worked out well for her since she stayed healthy into
her 90s. But as a child, the whole wheat bread and skim milk offered at
Grandma’s house were not my favorite. Luckily we could always count on a can of
Hi-C in the refrigerator.
Before it was widely known that tanning beds caused skin cancer she would tell
me “You should not get into those things. They will give you skin cancer.” You
better bet those words were going through my head the day I had basal cell skin
cancer removed from my nose.
She wasn’t only ahead of her time when it came to health. She was also
progressive in her beliefs. She believed in accepting others for what they are,
supporting others and standing up for what you believe in. She demonstrated
tolerance and while she was strong and opinionated she rarely raised her voice.
When all 6 grandsons were in the house things tended to escalate quickly with
balls being thrown, someone getting hurt or mad and something getting broken.
Her response would not get any more harsh than “You little dickens!!!”
Perhaps the time she showed the greatest tolerance in her life was after Caleb
and Morgan’s wedding. The day after the wedding several of us attended a
Cardinals vs Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field. As a life long Cardinals fan,
Grandma was sporting red and cheering on her beloved Cardinals while sitting
next to her Grandson who was wearing a Cubs shirt.
Caleb and I were lucky to live in the same town as our grandparents and share our
early childhood with all of our cousins. Grandma and Grandpa were constants in
our lives. Our first flight was to California with Grandma and Grandpa to visit our
family in San Diego. As we grew older Grandma and Grandpa attended all of our
school events. Actually, I think Grandpa avoided all of the choir performances and
school plays, but Grandma was there. During summer break Grandma would pick
Caleb and me up and drive us to the pool each afternoon. In college they would pick
me up on campus and treat me to dinner at Red Lobster.
These are my stories and everyone who knew Maxine has their own set of stories.
We are lucky to have had her for so many years, for there to be so many stories.
For her to have met all of her great-grandchildren. We can only hope that we are
all lucky enough to have the same."
