Maxine Smith

On June 1, 2020, Heaven gained an Amazing new Angel. Maxine R. Smith RAN into the waiting arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She left her earthly home in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, surrounded by her family.

Maxine was born on April 21, 1944 to Loretta and Rudy Whitmyre in Webster, South Dakota. She grew up on her family farm near Butler, SD, attended 8 years of country school and in 1962 graduated from Webster High School. After high school, she went on to Beauty School and worked at salons in Webster, Brainerd, Nisswa, and Detroit Lakes.

Maxine met Roy Smith on June 8, 1961 at the Wilmot, South Dakota 75th Anniversary Celebration. They were married in the Butler Lutheran Church on February 8, 1964. After marriage, they moved to Brainerd, Minnesota where they established their first home. In 1965, their daughter Kristen was born and in 1968, son Robert was born.

In 1969, the family moved to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota – a community they have called home for fifty-one years. In 1981, Maxine became receptionist/secretary for the family surveying business, Roy Smith & Associates. Maxine loved being creative. She enjoyed card making, embroidery work, floral arrangements, and decorating her yard and home. Maxine was involved with her church circle, card club, neighborhood birthday club, and she had a unique ability to make and keep friends wherever she went. At the age of 50, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and since age 55, she was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Despite her physical limitations, her wheelchair did not define her, even when there were challenges or bumps in the road, she always remained brave and strong. She always had a positive attitude, a smile on her face and never once complained of her physical situation. Family was most important to Maxine, and she was completely selfless when it came to others. There was not a day that went by that she didn’t tell her family how proud she was of them or how much they meant to her.

Cherishing her memory are: her husband, Roy of Detroit Lakes; children: Kristen (Timothy) Workman of Prior Lake, MN and Robert (Paula) Smith, Rosemont, MN; grandchildren: Megan (Aaron) Bonaime, Fargo, ND, Taylor (Ryan) Elasky, Prior Lake, MN, Tori Workman (Dylan Doohen, fiance), Faribault, MN, Sydney Smith, Rosemont, MN; great-grandchildren: Elliana, Elise, Emmett Bonaime; sisters, Marlene (Al) Ferguson, Aberdeen, SD, Judy (Larry) Reil, Wilmot, SD; sister-in-law, LaVonne (Gary) Mueller, Wilmot, SD and sister-in-law, Mary Ann Smith, Bloomington, MN; and a host of nieces, and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Rudy and Loretta Whitmyre, father in-law and mother in-law, Robert and Leona Smith, and brother-in-law, Leon Smith.

A pending Memorial Services will be held at Zion Lutheran Church in Detroit Lakes at a later date. A subsequent Interment Service will be held in Wilmot, SD following the Detroit Lakes Memorial Service. An announcement update will be provided in the future via the Detroit Lakes and Wilmot, SD newspapers.