Maxine K. McGuire, 89, died Sep. 1, 2019. She was born Aug. 24, 1930, the only child of Max and Catherine Kuffner.
She filled her life with her family and friends and volunteering for her community of Mukwonago. A good day was when she was able to dig into her garden and a new book.
She grew up in the East Troy area and attended Carver School, where her teacher in that one-room school cultivated a life long passion for learning. She once tallied the number of classes she had taken over the years and it was close to 40.
At 16, Maxine married a blue-eyed Irishman named William (Bill) McGuire in 1946 and together they raised five children, Pam (Daniel) Yerke, Pat (Gayle) McGuire, Rosanne McGuire, Tim (Pam) McGuire and Carey (Bernie Carlson) Chapman.
She is further survived by 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, Erin (Jeff) Folstad and their children Adah and Regan, Shannon (Aaron) Feest and their son Owen, Caitlin (Kaden) Braker and their children Declan and Nora, Haley Loker, Dirk (Krystal) Loker and their daughter Nevaeh, Max Loker, Matthew and Megan McGuire, Catherine, Lucy and John Chapman.
She is also survived by a large circle of friends, loving neighbor Cheryl Monroe and a feisty cat named Tigger.
Maxine and Bill ran the Standard Oil Dealership in Mukwonago, before the business was sold in 1976, and she started working at the Fickau Building Center. She was often the voice at the other end of the phone when a family ran out of fuel on a cold winter night, or the clerk who guided customers through their first DIY project.
Maxine was a member of St. James Catholic Church, the Mukwonago SAGES and Seniors, Mukwonago TOPS, Red Hat and Homemakers. Maxine introduced hundreds of children to theater through her work with the 4-H Drama program. She was a founding member of the Mukwonago Village Players. In the past, she was active in the Mukwonago Fire Department Auxiliary and the American Legion Auxiliary.
An avid reader, she was a frequent patron at the Mukwonago Community Library. She did a crossword puzzle and Sudoku each day – not because she liked it but because she thought it was important to keep her brain active. She made a mean pork roast and could stretch a pound of hamburger a million ways.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7, at St. James Catholic Church, 830 Highway NN, Mukwonago.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, at Schmidt and Bartelt Funderal and Cremation Services, 930 Main St., Mukwonago; and from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday at the church.
Memorials to the Mukwonago Community Library, in Maxine’s name are deeply appreciated by the family.
