Maxine E Whiteley's Obituary
Maxine Whiteley passed away on, February 26, 2024 at the home of her daughter, Donna near Chariton, Iowa. Maxine was born on August 18, 1925 at home in Milo, Iowa to Frank and Ethel Whitlow. Maxine was the eighth of twelve children born to this union.
At 4 years of age, Maxine and 2 of her siblings were sent to the Annie Wittenmeyer Home in Davenport, Iowa. In 1930 Charles and Elma Breuer adopted Maxine to join Marvin, her new half-brother, to complete their new family and they lived on a farm west of Corydon. She attended Clay Center country school and Corydon High School.
On November 23, 1942 she met the love of her life, Dail Whiteley and they were married on January 10, 1944. Dail soon left to serve his country in the US Navy during WWII and during this time their first-born son Gary Dail arrived. Upon returning home from the war, they moved to Corydon where Dail started his own electrical business and in 1947 Ronald Dean was born and Donna Kay followed in 1948.
In 1955, Dail and Maxine moved their family to a dairy farm west of Corydon where they lived for many years. Maxine was a hard worker with lots of long days filled with farm work, housework and gardening to feed their growing family. If something needed to be done, it was to be done right or not done at all was the work ethic she instilled in each of her children. She canned, preserved and froze at least 500 quarts of food and raised, dressed and froze 200 chickens annually to help feed the family. Sunday dinners were always fried chicken with the usual side dishes, homemade noodles, rolls and numerous choices of different pies on the menu. She even found time to work nights and made all of the pies for Nick's Cafe. In 1957 another daughter named Cindy Lou arrived and in 1959 Randy Ray was born to complete the family. Being one of the younger couples in their neighborhood, they spent many hours helping their neighbors who needed help with field work, gardening or poultry harvesting.
After several years on the farm working and raising their family, it was time to move back into Corydon to retire. In 1978 their son, Ron, built their new home with a smaller yard and garden and the canning and freezing activities continued on a smaller scale.
Maxine found time to join in activities and learned how to play bridge, bowl, play golf and tennis and go on long walks with friends as well as making many enjoyable crafted items. She also continued to make her wonderful pies which were requested from friends and she found time to make over 1,000 pies for the Coastal Mart in Corydon over a two-year period of time. Dad is gone now and I can't ask him, but I think he had to drive to Coastal to buy an extra piece of her pie during those couple of years! Knitting afghans for her grandchildren and making cross stitched baby blankets for all of her great-grandchildren also kept her hands busy over the years. Maxine loved to entertain and made fabulous meals which included her famous noodles, bread and rolls, cookies, candies and pies that will be greatly missed by her family and all who knew her and enjoyed her goodies. She was also a great story teller sharing stories of her childhood, silly things that happened to her throughout life and usually there were really funny stories about herself and Dad.
Soon after moving to town, they began making the annual trek as snow birds to the warmer weather of Arizona where their sons, Ron and Randy lived at the time. She enjoyed playing lots of tennis as well as card games, attending spring training Cub games with Dail and entertaining many friends with lots of meals which included those homemade pies.
Downsizing once again became necessary in 2000 when Maxine suffered a heart attack. So, another new but smaller home was built in 2001, with a smaller yard and garden being enjoyed once again. In 2014 Maxine suffered from failing eyesight and it was finally time for "real retirement". They sold their home and moved to Homestead Assisted Living in Chariton, Iowa. No yard or garden to tend and no baking, but lots of card games, bingo and other activities and again making many new friends filled their time.
In March of 2018 Dail and Maxine moved to Corydon Specialty Care where they celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary on January 10, 2019 with their family, friends and residents. They also celebrated their 76th anniversary in 2020 before Dail passed away on October 31st, 2020.
Maxine is survived by her sons Ron (Joan) Whiteley, Kentland, Indiana; and Randy Whiteley and Special Friend, Denese Bankus, Corydon, Iowa. Daughters Donna (Thierry) Amice, Chariton, Iowa; and Cindy (Jeff) Stewart, Corydon and Grandchildren Kellie (Tony) Sinclair, Melrose, Iowa; Mike (Erin) Curran, Woodburn, Iowa; Chris Whiteley, Celina, Texas; Chad (Amy) Whiteley, Euless, Texas; Sarah (Chad) Peck, Promise City, Iowa; Lorah (Ryan) Arnold, Corydon, Iowa; Jason Whiteley, Hartford, Ohio; Brad (Trish) Whiteley, Speedway, Indiana and Matt (Ryanne) Whiteley, Columbus, Indiana.
Great Grandchildren Kolby and Fiancé Hunter McAninch, Luke, Cole and Wyatt Sinclair, Melrose, Iowa; Conner (Sunnie) Whiteley, Euless, Texas; Addison and Cade Whiteley, Euless, Texas; Riley (Cade) Pelzer, Red Oak, Iowa; Reese Brown and Brystal Peck, Promise City, Iowa; Shayden and Hagan Arnold, Corydon; Cierra Hildebrand, Manson, Iowa; Sidney Hildebrand, Winterset, Iowa; Sage Hildebrand, Ames, Iowa and Shawn Partlow, Woodburn, Iowa.
Great-Great Grandchildren Adrian Henry Mayfield, Perry, Iowa; Graham Michael and Ja'Niyla Whiteley, Speedway, Indiana; Emma Grace Whiteley, Columbus, Indiana and Emberlynn Whiteley, Euless, Texas.
She is also survived by many nieces, nephews and friends who will miss her kindness, gentle words, sense of humor and her love of God.
Maxine was preceded in death by her biological parents Frank Whitlow and Ethel Alyward Whitlow and adoptive parents Charles and Elma Breuer. Her Father-in-Law, Irvin E. Whiteley and Mother-in-Law, Sarah Emma (Todd) Whiteley; her Husband, Rex Dail; and first-born Son, Gary Dail and Daughter in Law Connie Whiteley, Celina, Texas; and Son-in-Law Ethan Allen (Donna) Towne, Chariton, Iowa. Siblings Dwight Whitlow; Dwaine Whitlow; Max Whitlow; Marjorie (Whitlow) Feight; baby Lester Whitlow; Paul Whitlow; Marguerite (Whitlow) Nightingale; James Whitlow; Clifford Whitlow; Raymond Whitlow; Harry Frank Whitlow Jr. and half-brother, Marvin (Norma McLin) Breuer. Brother-in-Law, Irvin Jr Whiteley and Sister-in-Law Geneva (Ockerman) Whiteley. Nephew, Jerry Breuer; Niece Dixie (Breuer) McMahan, and many Nieces and Nephews from both of her biological and adoptive families.
Maxine was a warm hearted and very loyal person. She loved having fun and will be dearly missed by her loved ones and all who knew her.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday, March 4th, 2024, at 10am at Thomas Funeral Home in Corydon. Burial will follow at the Corydon Cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday, March 3rd from 1:00pm to 3:00 PM. Memorials may be made to the Corydon Methodist Church or to New Zion Methodist Church in lieu of flowers if you wish and condolences may be shared at https://www.thomasfh.com or https://facebook.com/thomasfuneralhome.
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