Maxine Carey Patterson, 93, died peacefully at her home on the morning of Friday, March 11, 2016. She was born on October 31, 1922, to Ernest Gordon and Sylvia Sowers Carey of Ames, Iowa. She graduated from Ames High School, attended secretarial school and worked as a receptionist for a physician in Ames. At the age of 22, Maxine joined WAVES - Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service - in affiliation with the United States Navy. She served at the Bureau of Medicine in Washington, D.C., during 1945 and 1946. She married James L. Patterson in Ames, Iowa, on April 7, 1947, and moved with him to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jim died suddenly in 1972, and Maxine took a job as a medical transcriptionist. Her elderly mother moved in with her the day Jim died and, over the next 33 years, Maxine assisted in or provided care for four elderly family members and friends. She moved to Freeport in 2005 to live near her only child.
Maxine was a 60+ year member of The Order of the Eastern Star and a 50+ year member of P.E.O. Locally, she belonged to P.E.O. Chapter BE. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her sister, and her niece and nephew. She is survived by her daughter, Linda (Raymond) Alberts of Freeport; her grandsons, James (Eva) Alberts, Colorado Springs, CO, and William (Danielle Ruffatto) Alberts, Champaign, IL; two great-granddaughters, Maeve Elizabeth and Lila Maxine Alberts; her niece, Patti (Gary) Moore, Gig Harbor, WA; her nephew, Larry (Carole) DeLange, Georgetown, TX; and her "found" daughters, Julie and Judy from Bountiful, and Judy and Nina from Freeport.
Cremations rites have been accorded. A memorial service will be held at 6:30 P.M. on Monday, March 28, at Walker Mortuary in Freeport. A visitation period preceding the memorial will begin at 5:30 P.M. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial gift to Friends Forever Humane Society; Freeport Community Public School Fund, Inc.; Parkview Home Building Fund; or FHN Hospice.
Please leave a message in Maxine's guestbook at www.walkermortuary.com