Cloey “Maxine” Johnson, 85, formerly of Neosho Falls, passed away Saturday, March 16, 2013, at The Heritage of Overland Park.
Maxine was born April 19, 1927, at rural Neosho Falls, the daughter of Raymond and Anna (Heslop) Stovall. She graduated from Neosho Falls High School in 1945, went to Fort Scott to be certified as a teacher and taught in a one-room school.
Maxine met Bill Johnson when he came to work on her family’s farm. They married on July 18, 1948, in Hayward, Calif. where they made their home. Once her children were in school, Maxine worked as a sales clerk at Sears and bookkeeper at White Front department stores. Bill retired in 1970 from the Alameda Naval Air Station and they returned to Neosho Falls where Maxine worked at the Neosho Valley Senior Center. Bill preceded her in death on July 14, 1991.
Maxine loved fishing, quilting, crocheting and tending her flower gardens. She enjoyed going to auctions and driving the RV to visit relatives or escape the Kansas winters. She was a member of the Neosho Falls Methodist Church.
She is survived by two children, Karen Foster and husband Wes Spencer, Sacramento, Calif. and Connie Highland and husband Michael, Shawnee. She had four grandchildren, Matthew Foster, Sarah Schmidt, Nathan Highland and Laura Highland; four great-grandchildren, Jacob, Cody, Ethan and Trevor, and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her son Kevin, her brothers Francis and Dwight Stovall and her sisters May Dutton and Pauline Fitzpatrick.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Chapel in Iola, where the family will receive friends an hour prior to the service.
Burial will be at Geneva Cemetery northwest of Iola.
Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel of Iola, is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences for the family may be left at www.iolafuneral.com.
Maxine Johnson
