MAXINE ELLEN NEWMAN

1924 - 2011

Maxine Ellen Newman, age 87, of Hoopeston, Ill., formerly of Rankin, died at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, May 19, 2011, at the Hoopeston Community Memorial Nursing Home.
Maxine was born in a Ford County country home on March 4, 1924, the daughter of Otto M. and Louisa A. Scott Kietzmann. She was the middle of 13 children – eight girls and five boys.
Maxine graduated from Rankin High School in 1942. On Sept. 18, 1943, she married Ralph J. Newman at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Rankin. He died April 21, 2006.
Maxine is survived by five daughters, Marjorie (Mel) Krueger of Milford, Kathleen (Cobert) Mueller of Stewardson, Barbara (Harvey) Brusky of Byron and Susan (Stephen) Worley and Dianna (Marvin) Barnes, all of Sycamore; four sons, Daniel (Margaret) Newman of Lake in the Hills, David (Carol) Newman of Sierra Vista, Ariz., Joseph (Alicia) Newman of Libertyville, Mathew (Shelly) Newman of Ludlow; daughter-in-law Barbara Newman of Cary, N.C.; 27 grandchildren and many great- and great-great-grandchildren; one brother, Charles L. Kietzmann of Onarga; three sisters, Shirley Rutledge, Ruth Dippel and Mary Hall, all of Peoria. She was preceded in death by two infant sons, Patrick and John; son James of North Carolina, who died in 2002 after liver and kidney transplants; five brothers and four sisters.
The family lived in the DeKalb/Sycamore area for 17 years. Maxine worked in Brody's Coat Factory making ladies dress coats and also helped her husband in the income tax offices that he had acquired. In 1985, she returned to Rankin, where she continued tax work from her home until 2002.
Maxine was a member of St. Anthony's Catholic Church, Altar and Rosary Society, Rankin Lions Club and the Cissna Park American Legion Auxillary. She enjoyed canning and making home-cooked meals for friends. Everyone remembers her delicious jellies and jams, and her sewing and quilting ability.
Funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 24, 2011, at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, 423 S. Third St. in Hoopeston, with the Rev. Geoffrey Horton. Burial will be at Rankin Union Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 5-8 p.m. Monday at Wolfe Funeral Home, 907 W. Main St. in Hoopeston, with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Memorials can be made to Iroquois Memorial Hospice Program, Rankin Lions Club or to the church during Mass.