Maxine Mae Dunham

Maxine Mae Chester Dunham was born in the year 1915 to Dassa Mae and Edmond Clarence Chester. She was born in Medford, Oklahoma on a farm. Her parents had sheep, cattle and grew lots of things but were primarily wheat farmers. They had a pretty large flock of sheep that her dad would shear every year and take the wool to Witchita, Kansas. Maxine is still the owner of a wheat farm near Medford. Maxine started piano lessons when she was four years old and won the county piano competition when she was six years old. Maxine and Edna liked to sing duets together. She was soprano and Edna was alto. She loved to jump rope and swing on the tree swing her dad made. She and her older sister Edna liked to play house by the river that ran through their farm. They would pretend the giant tree roots were the different rooms and cupboards. She spent a lot of time taking care of baby animals when the mothers rejected them. They would feed the babies with bottles until they could survive on their own. One day she took a bunch of baby chicks that she was given into the tornado cave in a basket. Maxine played a lot with the cats on the farm and even made them wear doll clothes. One really exciting memory is getting roller skates. She skated like mad for a long time on the sidewalk her dad put in between the house and the big red barn. Maxine always wanted a horse to ride. They had horses for work and pulling the wagon, but were afraid that the small girls would get hurt riding horses so never got them riding horses per se. Maxine's mother Dassa made lunches for the field hands and Maxine drove her father's farm truck around the farm to deliver them when she was 12. She also would drive her mom to the orchard so they could stand in the bed of the truck to pick fruit for jelly. Her dad always trusted her to drive the pickup around the farm. Her Favorite food – Fried Chicken! Her Favorite color – she can't pick one, she has a few Maxine's mom made most all of the girls' clothes Maxine went to the country school house grades 1-8. She had to walk a mile and a quarter to and from school every day unless the weather was so bad her dad would take the kids in a wagon. Maxine had to move on her own into the nearby town of Medford to attend high school. One year she lived by herself in a rented room. She had a warming plate to cook on. One year she lived with another family and then the last two years of high school she lived with a roommate. After high school she went to Nursing School. She then attended Wichita Business College. After graduating she got a job in the Medford court house where she met Don. They got married when she was 21 years old. This was 1936. Don got a new position with the government and they moved to Washington D.C. where they lived for two years. From there they moved to Omaha, Nebraska. This is where they lived for many years and where their daughter Jan (1940) was born. In 1945 Max moved back to Blackwell to live with her mother and father while Don joined the Navy (WWII). At this time she worked at a prisoner of war camp in Tonkawa, Oklahoma (8 miles south of Blackwell). Maxine's parents babysat Jan while Grandma was at work. Don would send Maxine letters. In his letters they developed a code that she could decipher and know where he was stationed. They transferred back to Wheat Ridge, Colorado when Jan was 12-years-old. Maxine passed away on April 21, 2013. She is survived by her daughter, Jan; granddaughter, Sharon and her husband Terry and great grandchildren, Brandon, Brett, Lauren. Interment will take place in McPherson, KS at a later date. Please make donations in Maxine's name to the Denver Dumb Friends League, 2080 S. Quebec, Denver, 80231, www.ddfl.org.