Maxine Brown

Maxine Brown, age 91, of Storm Lake, Iowa, died Sunday, June 7, 2009 at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake. Funeral services for Mrs. Brown will be held Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. Burial will follow at Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Storm Lake. A time of visitation will be held at the funeral home for one hour prior to the start of services on Wednesday. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Those who wish to send online messages of condolence to the family may do so via the funeral home website: www.fratzkejensen.com Ella Maxine Bolt was born August 20, 1917 in Sac City, Iowa, the daughter of Claude Melvin Bolt and Edna(Lewis)Bolt. When she was two years old, Maxine and her family moved to Storm Lake. She attended the Storm Lake schools from kindergarten through her high school graduation in 1934. Following graduation, Maxine worked in Storm Lake Sweets Style shop for about three and a half years. She then worked in a dress shop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota but didnâ€™t like being away from home, so she moved back to Storm Lake. She was employed at M&M Fashion Shop. She was then employed as book keeper at C&H Electric in Storm Lake for three years. Maxine was united in marriage to Paul Eslick, who also worked in Storm Lake. The couple made their first home in Omaha, Nebraska, where Paul worked for a bomber plant. He was diagnosed with leukemia, and had treatment in Omaha. Maxine worked at Brandies department store in the dress department. They lived in Omaha for two years before Paul passed away in December 1943. Following Paulâ€™s death, Maxine came back to Storm Lake and worked at S&M Finance, and also C&H Electric for seven and a half years. She married Willard â€œBillâ€ Brown on April 18, 1946. The couple was blessed with a son, Jim, born on November 22, 1947. When Jim was two years old, Maxine went back to work at S&M Finance. Bill took over Ford Implement, and Maxine was his bookkeeper. Bill passed away in 1965, and Jim graduated from high school in 1966. Maxine started working at Security Trust & Savings Bank, and worked there for the next eleven and a half years. She lived in her home on Superior Street in Storm Lake until her health started to fail. She then moved to Methodist Manor in Storm Lake in 2004. Maxine enjoyed going dancing and playing cards. She belonged to several card clubs. Going fishing with Jim and Bill was one of her favorite activities. She always took a picnic lunch along. Maxine liked to travel and especially enjoyed her trips to California, where she visited Disneyland and Knots Berry Farm, and to New York City, where she saw live performances of Cats and Sugar Babies. She treasured their family vacation times, when they enjoyed renting a cottage on a lake somewhere peaceful. Above all, Maxine loved her family and the time she spent with them. Her kind and caring ways will be missed by all those who knew and loved her. Left to cherish her memory are her grandson, Michael McMorris and wife Tina of Fox River Grove, Illinois; great-granddaughters, Kaylianna, age three years, and Gabriella, age nine months; sisters-in-law, Jean Bolt of Eldon, Missouri and Joyce Bolt of Burnsville, Minnesota; many nieces and nephews; special friends, Bob and Darlene Armstrong of Storm Lake; extended family and many friends. Maxine was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Paul Eslick; her second husband, Bill Brown; her son, Jim; and her brothers: Robert, Keith, Kenneth and Merle Bolt.

Maxine Brown

August 20, 1917 - June 7, 2009