Maxine Velma Grissom

Maxine Velma Grissom

Harpers Ferry

Maxine Velma Grissom, 97, of Harpers Ferry, Iowa, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, at Aspire Health and Rehab in Moberly, Mo. A Celebration of Life will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Center Point, Iowa, where a visitation will begin one hour prior to the service. A graveside service will follow at the Walker Cemetery in Walker, Iowa.

Maxine was born on Sept. 18, 1925, in Marion, the daughter of Harry and Theresa (Novak) Werner. She was raised a farm girl in the Winthrop, Quasqueton, Walker, Troy Mills area. She attended a one-room schoolhouse. Maxine graduated from Troy Mills, Iowa, in 1943. Growing up, she and her sister Edna played music and sang at numerous events and dances in the area. Mac, as she was fondly called, played mandolin and guitar and sang. Maxine could also play the piano and organ. She wrote poetry and songs. It was at one of the dances where she and Edna were performing that she met her husband-to-be. His name was Morris Frank Grissom. They corresponded throughout his tour of duty in World War II. When Morris returned, they were married on June 22, 1945, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

They farmed outside of Lamont, Iowa. Following that, they ran the store in Quasky, and then moved to Cedar Rapids. Maxine and “Pete,” as Morris was known by, had three children, Diane, Maurice, and John. They enjoyed camping, fishing, cards, Church, and family. Mac and Pete would take off for Sunday drives and picnics often. Maxine worked as a cook/baker at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids for many years. There were many vacations at Lake Vermillion in Minnesota. Mac enjoyed her home and yard with her many flowers and trees near Ellis Park. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids.

Following the 2008 flood in Cedar Rapids, and losing her home to it, she moved to Center Point, Iowa. She moved to Harpers Ferry, Iowa, to be by John and Joyce, and then to Paris, Mo., near Diane in 2022.

Maxine is survived by her children, Diane Holmes of Paris, Mo., and John (Joyce) Grissom of Harpers Ferry; her brother, Charles (Nancy) Werner of Independence, Iowa; six grandchildren; numerous great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Morris (Pete); son, Maurice (Gus) Grissom; son-in-law, Jerry Holmes; and siblings, Dorothy, Marie, Edna and Mabel Rick.

Memorials in Maxine’s memory may be directed to the family.

Please share a memory of Maxine at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.