Maxine Kilpatrick
Maxine Kilpatrick, 90, of Robinson, IL, passed away on October 23, 2022, at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, IL. She was born on December 18, 1931, in Flora, IL, the daughter of Howard & Pauline (Platte) Bowen. A 1950 graduate of Harter-Stanford Township High School in Flora, IL, she soon found work as a telephone operator for General Telephone. On September 19, 1953, she married Warren Kilpatrick in Effingham, IL, and before long, the couple moved to Kimball, NE, where Warren worked on the Arapaho Pipeline. It was here that their first daughter, Christine, was born.
Eventually, their young family moved back to the area, where Maxine would become the first female school bus driver in Gila. In so doing, she touched the lives of many area students, who will likely remember her as running a tight bus! The end of her career found her as a bakery manager at Big John’s/IGA, where she specialized in decorating beautiful (and scrumptious) cakes.
Never one to let dust settle, Maxine stayed active even at home. She spent countless hours doing yard work and also busied herself by tending to her sizable garden. In fact, she would use its cucumbers to make pickles, its tomatoes to make tomato juice and salsa, and its squash to make her famous squash pie. She was also known for her delicious grape, strawberry, and blackberry jams, as well as her delectable apple butter. The soundtrack of her kitchen was the police scanner, which sat near her CB radio. The latter provided her with many hours’ worth of conversation with her fellow radio enthusiast friends.
Dinner time was special to Maxine, as it meant time with family. Without fail, she always made sure they had plenty to eat before picking up a plate for herself. But that was just her, as she made a habit of selflessly taking care of everyone else. Her thoughtfulness was evident in a hundred other ways, like waking up early every morning to get a pot of coffee brewing for Warren or crocheting blankets for all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who each held a special place in their grandma’s heart.
Though tussling with her could be akin to grabbing a rattlesnake, it was apparent that her heart belonged to her family. They have become her legacy and will keep her memory alive in their hearts and in their lives for as long as they have the breath to speak her name.
She is survived by her cherished husband of 69 years, Warren Kilpatrick; her daughters, Christine Kilpatrick and Brenda Hayes; her grandchildren, Nathan Kilpatrick, Nicole Nichol, Patrick & Chelsea Hayes, and Ashley Mundhenk; her great-grandchildren, Caje Kilpatrick, Kyle Nichol, Kolby Nichol, Jake Mundhenk, Dalton Kilpatrick, Stephanie Hayes, Lucas Mundhenk, Edwin Hayes, Maddie Shaw, and her “honorary grandchild”, Cooper Atteberry; her sisters, Lorene Steele, Elsie Hinkle, and Dorothy Payne; as well as several nieces and nephews.
A time of visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 1st, at the Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson. Services will immediately follow and be held at 12:00 p.m. at the funeral home, with Celebrant Curt Goodwine officiating. Burial will be in the Kerns Cemetery, rural Jasper County. Memorial contributions may be made to the “Lawrence Crawford Association”, with envelopes available at the funeral home. For more information, or to share a memory or condolence online, please visit www.goodwinefuneralhomes.com.
