George R. Maxwell

1935 - 2021

George R. Maxwell
Monroe - George Ronald Maxwell, age 85, passed away peacefully on Thursday, July 8th, six months after the passing of his beloved wife of over 64 years, Catherine (Kit) Maxwell. His sons were at his side.
George was born on July 11, 1935 in Carleton, Michigan to George and Almyra (Williams) Maxwell. He was the second of six children in the large, close-knit Maxwell family.
George graduated from Airport High School in 1953. He was a standout athlete at Airport earning 15 Varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track. In his senior year he was voted most valuable player in football, basketball and track. He was inducted into the Airport High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. He continued his football career on a scholarship to the University of Toledo and lettered 3 years. In 1958 he graduated from Toledo with a degree in Industrial Management.
Not long after, he began working at Ford Motor Company, a career that would span over thirty years. He enjoyed working at Ford and the challenges it presented to him. Early on, at the age of 26, while working in the quality control lab, he received the company's maximum employee suggestion award. It was his third award in his first 2 years at the company. More than anything though, he enjoyed the many life long friendships he formed while working there. George retired from Ford in 1993.
On August 18th, 1956, George married his high school sweetheart, Catherine Susan(Kit) Lemerand at St Mary's Catholic Church in Monroe and began his most fulfilling career as husband, father and grandfather.
He was a devoted husband to Kit and nothing modeled that more clearly to his sons than the way he took care of her in her final years. As her health declined, he worked harder than ever to make life as comfortable as possible. He cooked, shopped and cleaned with the best of them. Mom and all of us truly appreciated all that he did.
As a father, he was always there for his sons. He never missed a game or event we were participating in and never pushed us to follow in his foot steps. He helped us each find our own way. He impressed upon us the importance of family and taking care of each other. If a brother needed help, you better be the first one there for him. These lessons as well as watching him take care of mom were all the inspiration we needed to take care of the two them these past eight months.
His engineering and quality control background also provided us with many life lessons. Little did we know, that there are definitive right and wrong ways to load a dishwasher, pack a trunk or organize a garage or work shop.
After his retirement from Ford, George and Kit soon decided that Winters were better spent in Florida. For many years they traveled to Destin where they spent time with a good group of friends from Monroe. They enjoyed walking the beach, reading on their balcony, cocktail parties with friends, couples golf league and of course, the "early bird" dinner specials.
Summer's were spent at the family cottage on Lake Missaukee in Lake City, a tradition began by George's parents who bought the first family cottage there in 1968. Today, members of the family own five cottages on the lake and George thoroughly enjoyed the impromptu family gatherings with boat loads of family arriving on our beach. He enjoyed watching his grand daughters go from little girls playing in the sand to grown women excelling at skiing, wake boarding and wake surfing. He enjoyed the meals prepared by his daughter in law and sons, and captaining the pontoon boat on our after dinner cruises. More than anything though, he enjoyed his workshop there. Little did he know, we all knew his workshop was just a place he could sneak a cigar without mom or us catching him.
His favorite retirement hobby was golf. He enjoyed playing in Lake City and the neighboring up north courses as well as winter golf in Florida. Locally, he played at Raisin River, Green Meadows and Monroe Golf and Country Club for many years and most recently his favorite place was Dundee Golf Club. He formed many strong friendships there and always looked forward to his weekly outings.
He was an avid sports fan and especially loved following high school sports. After his sons and grand daughters were done participating, he could often be found at SMCC and Airport games following nieces, nephews and children of family friends.
When we were young, George could often be found volunteering at our schools, St Mary's Grade School and St Mary Catholic Central. He also volunteered at St Mary's Parish including making his famous potato soup for the parish soup luncheons. It was during these years that George renewed his faith and was baptized into the Catholic Church by Father Brian Chabala.
He was a member of The Monroe Club for many years and enjoyed volunteering for their St Nick's charity event.
George is survived by his sons, Todd(Nancy), Mark, Eric, Kevin and Ryan, grand daughters Colleen, Kelsey, Kylie, Kendall and Reese, sisters, Jean Baker, Jan(Bill) Bondy, Cheryl(Jim) Marlow, brother, Bob(LeeAnna) Maxwell as well as numerous nieces and nephews and brother and sister in laws.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Kit, his parents George and Almyra, sister Nancy Anson, brother in law Ben Baker, and mother and father in law, Fred and Kay Lemerand.
Family and friends may visit from 1 pm to 8 pm Tuesday, July 13, 2021, at Bacarella Funeral Home, 1201 S. Telegraph Road, Monroe, MI 48161. On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, George will lie in state at St Mary Catholic Church in Monroe beginning at 10:00 am with a Mass of Christian Burial beginning at 11:00 am. Father Brian Chabala will officiate. In lieu of flowers, memorials to St Mary's Parish or St Mary Catholic Central would be appreciated.
Online condolences and special memories may be shared with the family by visiting the obituary page at www.bacarellafuneralhome.com.