Maxine M. Alden

Maxine Mae (Zacharias) Alden was born on her grandmother's farm in Sauk Center MN to Theodore and Blanche (Crippen) Zacharias on November 10, 1923. Maxine's mother took her on the train back to the Bradford area where her parents had bought a farm but soon lost it during the Depression. They continued to rent and work farms in the Bradford area where Maxine attended country schools and then Iowa Falls High School. Just before her senior year, the family moved to the Geneva area where she graduated as valedictorian in 1941. Maxine wanted to move to California and work in the defense plants, but her father said no. Because she had also wanted to be a secretary, she decided to attend Hamilton Business School in Mason City. She finished a 12-month secretarial course in 8 months and took her first job at Pfaff Baking Company in Mason City. After marrying Dale Alden, they intended to begin farming in the West Fork area. However, Dale was drafted after only 2 months of marriage, so Maxine stayed with relatives in Mason City and continued to work there. When Dale returned home, they farmed near the West Fork River where son Dennis Dale was born. After one year of enduring flooded land and a cyclone that took most of their buildings, they bought the farm east of Sheffield where two more children were born Douglas Rae (stillborn), and Marlese Kay. Maxine was hot lunch secretary at Sheffield-Chapin school for seventeen years. She enjoyed a large garden and asparagus patch, canning, baking, knitting, crocheting, and many other crafts. She taught classes on knitting, crocheting, and leather tooling. Maxine loved to sing and once won a radio-singing contest. She was active in the West Fork United Methodist Church as choir director, cantata leader, and soloist for many church events. She delighted in her grandchildren, Laura Alden Vandermolen, David John Vandermolen, and Eric Paul Vandermolen, planting 3 trees along her driveway in their honor. After retirement, Maxine wintered at Sun City Center FL. In 2004, after making this farm her home for 57 years, she moved to Florida year round until 2007. Then she contentedly lived her last years at the Franklin Prairie Apartments and Country View Nursing Home in Hampton IA where she was happy to be near family and friends. Maxine is survived by her children, Dennis and Marlese; her grandchildren, Laura, David, and Eric; her sister and brother-in law, Connie and LeRoy Benning; her sister-in-law Dorothy Alden; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Dale, her son Douglas, and her niece Jennifer Benning. Burial will take place at the Hampton Cemetery in Hampton, Iowa

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Maxine M. Alden

November 10, 1923 - September 6, 2013