Cecelia Kay Mudd

1943 - 2020

Cecelia Kay (Maxey) Mudd
Cedar Falls, IA - Cecelia Kay (Maxey) Mudd, 77, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend, died at home on Sunday afternoon, November 29th, in the loving arms of her husband Jim and their six children.
Cecelia was born on July 25th, 1943, in Monmouth, Illinois, the youngest of Robert and Marie (Hennefent) Maxey's five children. She married James Anthony Mudd on June 13th, 1964, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Monmouth, Illinois. She is survived by her loving husband, Jim, and their six children; Jim Mudd Jr. (Becky), Robert Mudd (Magdalena Cheng), Mary Kay Mudd Bushonville (Art), Christopher Mudd (Tracy), Elizabeth Mudd Iozzo (Marc), and Kathleen Mudd Shirk (Andy), her grandchildren; James Anthony III (Trey), Olivia, Jackson, Alec, Maxwell, Sophia, Ava, Samuel, Grace, Marc James, Jocelyn, Elicia, Quentin, Amelia, Margot, Stella Cecelia and another Shirk grand-baby due in April. Cecelia is also survived by her two sisters, Patricia Bowen, Roberta Johnson along with many cousins, nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents and her dear sister Nancy Toricelli and brother George Maxey.
Cecelia graduated from Monmouth High School in 1961 and immediately began her career as an airline stewardess for American Airlines that summer. She was stationed out of Chicago, Illinois and Fort Worth, Texas and absolutely loved to travel and see the country as well as the glamor that accompanied the job at the time. In 1963 Cecelia met Jim Mudd, a local radio personality, originally of Owensboro, Kentucky. The two fell in love and married and she became a full-time mother to three sons and three daughters and in 1973 they settled in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
While raising their children, managing their home, and supporting Jim in each new business venture, Cecelia provided a constant source of love and encouragement to her family. Her faith became the most identifiable source of her abundant compassion, kindness and generosity and she poured these qualities into her life's work of raising and nurturing her family.
In the early years she spent countless hours helping her children with their own business endeavors including 5am paper routes, detasseling corn, chief inventory provider for summer lemonade stands, painting curbs, door to door sales for both girl and boy scouts. She was constantly teaching life lessons of hard work, the importance of a good attitude and the priority of treating others as we would want to be treated. All the while and until the end, she was a devoted wife to Jim. She was his rock and he hers for each of their 56 years of marriage. Their never ending commitment and love for one another stood the test of time through many hardships and losses and certainly not a lack of sickness or health.
Her family wasn't the only beneficiary of her constant support and selfless spirit. Cecelia showered friends and strangers with these same gifts. Volunteerism was of enormous importance in her life and she took great pride in sharing her time with Sartori Memorial Hospital along with St. Patrick's Parish, Catholic Daughters and The Festival of Trees. She gave of her time and energy to the auxiliary boards of both Sartori Memorial Hospital and EPI (Exceptional Persons Incorporated). There was no role beneath her if it could benefit another and she would always remind her children that "the task does not bring dignity to the doer, the doer brings dignity to the task. Get to work."
Cecelia gave her time to many organizations, but provided a haven to anyone who walked through her door or into her life. She had a special affinity for each of her children's friends and was eager to feed any one of them at any hour. She never minded if they stayed the night, a week or in one case a year; what was hers, was everyone's. Cecelia had an uncanny sense for "meeting people" where they "needed to be met" and always at that perfect time. Her compassion for others was endless, and she would never hesitate to stick up for those who could not stick up for themselves.
God smiled with favor upon her as His good and faithful servant every day of her life on earth. Her faith never wavered even amidst her 12 year battle with dementia. Cecelia was the embodiment of class, patience and grace accompanied by her naturally stunning physical beauty. She was a woman who's place on this earth will forever be missed as she leaves behind an incredible legacy for her children, grandchildren and generations yet to come.
The Mudd family gathered together on Thursday, December 3rd at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cedar Falls, for a private family mass due to Covid restrictions. A link is available to view her funeral virtually at www.richardsonfuneralservice.com. A celebration of life will be held for all to join on her birthday, this summer.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made in her honor, to one of the following organizations that were near and dear to Cecelia's heart. These organizations provide to people of great need in her community.
The Northeast Iowa Food Bank, 1605 Lafayette St. Waterloo, IA, 50703, www.northeastiowafoodbank.org
Exceptional Persons Foundation, PO Box 4090, Waterloo, IA 50704, www.episervice.org
The House of Hope 845 W. 4th Street, Waterloo, IA 50702, www.houseofhopeccd.org
St. Patrick Catholic Church, 705 Main Street, Cedar Falls, IA 50613, www.stpatrickcf.org