|
Maxine M. Holifield |
|
December 31, 1926 ~ October 7, 2017 |
|
November 14, 2017 |
Maxine M. Holifield, formerly of Soldotna,
Alaska, went home to be with the Lord on
Saturday, October 7, 2017, while a resident at
the Restorium assisted living home in Bonners
Ferry. She was 90 years young. On December 21,
after a memorial service, both Maxine and her
husband Robert will be interred in the Northern
California Veterans Cemetery near Redding,
California.
Maxine was born on December 31, 1926, to Huse
and Violet McKinney of Medford, Oregon. She
attended Medford Senior High School, where she
was student body secretary and graduated with
the Class of 1945.
It was during this time that she met her
husband-to-be for the next 58 years, Robert
“Bob” Holifield. In 1947 the couple was married
in Ballard, Washington, with family and friends
present. After a short honeymoon, Robert and
Maxine set off on an adventure to Alaska, where
Robert would begin a career with the Alaska
Highway Patrol.
During the time of her husband’s law enforcement
career, the couple was stationed throughout
communities in Alaska including Anchorage,
Haines, Juneau, Delta Junction, Fairbanks, and
finally Soldotna, where Robert retired as the
Chief of the Soldotna Police Department.
While living in Alaska, Maxine worked for the
Civil Aeronautics Administration, as a radio
dispatch operator, a library assistant, and an
election precinct volunteer for national, state,
and local elections.
Maxine was an avid reader and it was this love
for books that led her to work at the public
libraries in the various communities where the
couple was stationed. Also, she was an animal
lover and over the years provided a home for
numerous personal pets and neighborhood
“strays.”
“No stray animal will go unfed!” was her motto.
And if the situation presented itself, she could
often be found feeding moose by hand over the
fence in her back yard. Maxine was a grand
storyteller and would entertain anyone who was a
willing listener about current events or stories
of her adventures in Alaska.
Maxine attended the Sterling United Pentecostal
Church, where she was baptized and received the
Holy Ghost. She expressed numerous fond memories
of the times she shared with her faith family in
both her home and at church.
After the death of her husband Bob in 2005,
Maxine continued to live in Soldotna until,
after 66 years in Alaska, she moved to Bonners
Ferry in 2013 to live closer to her son, Brad.
Maxine is survived by her son Brad Holifield and
his wife Connie, grandchildren Jeanne Holifield
of Anchorage, Alaska, and John Holifield of
Bothell, Washington, and her brother, Ive
McKinney and his wife Joyce, and family of
Redding, California. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
