Maxine Augusta Phillips McPherson was born at her grandparents' homestead southeast of New Underwood on November 7, 1916. She was the eldest of 4 children, and the only girl, and she grew up on what had been her father's homestead east of Hereford. She attended the local grade school. Her first two years of high school were at a county high school in the area, followed by the final two years at New Underwood High School, with graduation in 1934.

After spending the following winter with relatives in Nebraska, her mother's home, she enrolled in Greene's Beauty School in Rapid City, following a long-held desire to be a beautician. Graduation was at Christmas, followed by the State Board Examination in Sioux Falls. She took the train and recalled how very cold it was in the passenger cars.

Returning to Rapid City, she was hired by a beauty shop across the street from Greene's, where she remained for a few months until Mrs. Greene asked her to return to the School and teach. Doing so for about a year, she then left to take over a one-woman shop in Hill City, whose owner had contracted tuberculosis and had to leave. Upon the woman's recovery and return, Maxine relocated into what is now a portion of the Alpine Inn and named her own shop "Maxine's". The family has recently discovered a letter she wrote to her parents during the terrible forest fire near Hill City in 1939. Her account of the plight of all of the residents there is arresting, and the uncertainty in her writing is stark. Fortunately, the wind later changed and the town was no longer threatened.

She remained there about a year, until she had to sell her business and return to the family ranch, where her father was scheduled to undergo surgery. She would care for her 3 brothers, practically raising the youngest, Howard, while her parents were away. Her father, William, was a local election official, responsible, among other things, for securing the ballot box after each election, and transporting it to the Meade County Courthouse in Sturgis. Because of his illness, Maxine assumed his responsibilities for the next election, and her brother, Ronald, drove her to the Courthouse after the poll closed on election night.

After dating each other for five years, Maxine became engaged to Arnold McPherson in December, 1940. They were married the next month by Presbyterian minister C.D. Erskine in his manse. Attendants were Mae McPherson Keffeler and Ronald Phillips, Arnold's sister and Maxine's brother.

Arnold had begun an appliance sales business in the rear of Snyder's Jewelry on Main Street, Sturgis. Maxine worked in the courthouse, first in the Highway Department, then in the Treasurer's Office. During World War II, Arnold was 4F, so was not called to service. But appliances were unavailable, so he became the assistant station agent for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. After the War's end, they built an appliance store on Junction Avenue, across the street west from the old Post Office. They sold appliances, paint, floor covering, radios, and bottled gas. Maxine ran the store and Arnold delivered and installed appliances.

In 1951 and in 1952, they won the bid to supply heating fuel to the Bureau of Reclamation for winter-time construction operations on Pactola Dam and Reservoir. In 1957, they decided to leave the appliance business and sell nothing but propane. They built an office building at the propane storage tank location south of Sturgis, in what was then outside the city limits, and alongside the Sturgis Livestock Exchange. In 1959, they won the bid to supply Peter Kiewitt Sons' Construction Co. for winter-time heat in each of the Minuteman missile bases under construction in the Meade County area.

Arnold became Cubmaster for the local Cub Scout Pack and Maxine embarked on a Den Mother career for a few years while her sons were in Scouts. When daughter Marcia became old enough, Maxine became a Brownie leader. That involvement led to a heavy and long-running commitment to Job's Daughters. She held adult supervisory offices in the local Bethel and later on the state level, ultimately becoming the Grand Guardian of South Dakota Job's Daughters in l980.

In the summer of 1965 when son David was a high school junior, Maxine's family was invited to host the next Sturgis High School foreign student. The family agreed and suddenly Maxine had a third son, a Spanish speaker, Rick. Formally Ricardo Dubuc Montes, from Caracas, Venezuela, he joined David for their senior year. He was obligated to speak to as many community organizations as possible, so Maxine became his chauffeur and English coach, with Marcia becoming the junior English coach. Rick's mother flew to join the family for his graduation, beginning an international relationship between the two families, which have occasionally visited each other.

In the later years, and after Arnold died, Maxine continued to live in the home they purchased in 1943. She has had two constant interests over the decades: gardening and grandchildren. Her gardens stretched over two adjoining lots, front and back. And grandchildren were always a welcome part of her and Arnold's life. She was also a constant and contributing member of the Presbyterian Church, the Eastern Star, and the Daughters of the Nile.

Maxine, 95, Sturgis, died Saturday, March 31, 2012, at Sturgis Regional Hospital.

She is survived by sons, Gene, David (Susan), and daughter, Marcia (Dan) Johnston, and special daughter, Michele Loobey-Gertsch; as well as grandchildren: Aaryn (Mike) Charnholm, Graham (Breanna), Evan, Paige, Hannah, and Heather McPherson; Jamie and Daniele Johnston; three step grandchildren: Joshua and Jeremiah Johnston and Janielle Finch; and one great-grandchild, Ethan Charnholm.

Maxine was preceded in death by her husband, Arnold; her parents, Ida and William Phillips; her three brothers, Roy, Ronald, and Howard; and her grandchild, Jinna.

Visitation will be Wednesday from noon to 9:00 p.m. with the family present from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 5, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Sturgis with Rev. Denzel Nonhof officiating. Burial will follow at Bear Butte Cemetery.

Memorials have been established to Hospice of the Northern Hills and SD Jobs Daughters Scholarship Fund.

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