Mary Maxine Evans

Mary Maxine Evans was born in Pryor, Oklahoma on the 3rd of October 1928. She passed into the Lord's hand on June 7th, 2023 at the age of 94 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. She was born 1 of 10 children to Luther and Alice Due of Pryor, Oklahoma.

Maxine was raised in a farming family and often laughed at how poor they were. She left high school after the 10th grade to marry a returning WWII Veteran and had 2 sons. Darrell Weaver a, now of Glendale, Arizona and Ron Weaver of Hot Springs, Arkansas. After divorcing in the early 1950's she met and married her husband of 46 years, Austin Ray Evans.

Struggling to make a living and raise 2 sons, Max and Ray were introduced into Line Work, (High Voltage power line construction) by her oldest brother L.E. Due. L.E. was also instrumental in introducing a number of all the family members into line work.

There was just one catch to line work...... Travel. It was a very hard life working outdoors in the extreme heat and cold but the money was good and if you were not working, you could always get a loan from a brother that was. (LOL)

The travel was quite an education especially for the women of our family. Having to pack up, move, and unpack again while taking care of kids too. Their work took them to the mountains in Washington state where they lived in a logging camp on top of the mountain. There was no indoor plumbing just a small 1 room log cabin with 1 light bulb and a old school block ice refrigerator. But  somehow as wives and mothers, the woman always managed to make due with the hand that they were delt. As one job ended and another one started they were on the move again crossing into the Navajo Reservation with nothing for miles and miles, enduring the sweltering heat and dust storms of the Arizona deserts.

Thru all the hard times, there were good times too. When multiple members of the family were on the same powerline job and if you were close to family, Saturday nights were called "Skid the Duece" night. A card game that game them entertainment for hours.

After retiring and the death of her second husband Ray, Max found a new passion in antiques, collectibles and yard sales. She relocated to Kingman, AZ where she managed an antique store of 10 years. Did she ever find some totally awesome collectibles! Finally retiring form work she continued to antique and yard sale. Every time Max would find a "good bargain" she would call and tell us what treasure that she had found.

Max had a love for country music, and always listened to it cranked way up loud. Patty would sometimes fly down to Kingman and pick up Max and bring her back to California to visit she loved the sunshine cooler weather and the fresh fruits and veggies. She loved it when we would fire up the bar b que pit and crank up the county music.

After Max was diagnosed with macular degeneration and unable to drive anymore, she contuined to live happily with the help of a few local friends and the endless daily phone calls from family. She would speak often of her nieces and nephews always of their success in life. She was proud of their children's success as well, becoming lawyers, doctors, veterinarians, nurses, and successful business women all over the U.S. and abroad. Max was always very proud of them and al of their accomplishments. She would call them "The Okie Bunch".  She loved her flowers and plants always making sure there was at least one tomato plant in the bunch. She enjoyed going out and watering them every morning.

In November of 2022, Max had been out to a couple of yard sales with a friend when she came down withwhat she thought was just a sore throat but unfortunately it turned into pneumonia. Max spent 9 days in Kingman Regional Hosptial in December of 2022 with a serious battle with pneumonia. The hospital called Ron the day before her release to tell him the were relesing her the next morning still on oxygen. For Ron there was no way of getting there in time, Ron called Darrell, Darrell and Casey, Max's grandson came to Glendale to pick her up and took her back to Darrell's house. Max was so weak and feeble she was unable to get around. After 3 weeks Darrell and Orba felt they were unable to take care of her and Max had expressed the desire to come to Hot Springs so Ron purchased 3 plane tickets for Darrell, Casey, and Max to fly to Little Rock and then drive to Hot Springs. The trip took even more out of her. In order to fly her Ron found out that the airline required their own type of oxygen machine, which also had to be purchased.  This was "Good Ole Southwest Airlines". They arrived in Hot Springs on January 8th, 2023.

So once more Max had to relocate again, this time to Hot Springs to live with her youngest son Ron and his wife Pattie. Prior to Max arriving in Hot Springs, Ron purchased an oxygen concentrator and other necessary items Max would require to be ready upon her arrival. Max used the oxygen concentrator for a few months and decided that she no longer needed it. Eventually her sister Marlene struggling with COPD needed the machine, so Ron packed it up and sent it to her.

Max loved sitting on the back porch watching the birds and enjoying the warm breeze, but she did not like the storms. She looked forward to the nice days when she could ride around the property on the gator with Ron she loved the pond, the green grass, the tall shade trees, all the flower gardens and feeding Pattie's (as max often called them) California fish. There was quite a change from the Arizona high desert to the Arkansas humidity.

Max also found a new and special friend Camille, the granddaughter of Ron and Pattie. Camille would come to the house 3 to 4 times a week and  each visit was bath, hair wash, curl and style. Camille would change her bedding, trim her nails, hellp her fix meals, and laundry. It was always quality visiting time. Every so often Camille would bring her 5 year old son Parker to see Max. That would be the thrill of her day, Parker loved to show her his toys and they would recite the ABC's and numbers together. During this time, her calls to family meant more to her than ever before. Especially with her sister Marlene, a day rarely passed that they didn't talk their bond was so strong the passed an hour apart.

Just like all of her brothers, sisters, father, mother, nieces and nephews, she too returns to the final resting place with "The Okie Bunch."

Isaiah 30:21  John 8:12