Maxine Terese Musser

Maxine was the third of nine children born to Alex and Myrtle Schultz (Biewen) in the little rural community of Wells, Minnesota.  She is survived by her brother Bob, sister Elaine Erich, brother Tom, and her sister-in-law Jeanne Schultz.  She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Patsy (Alsterberg), brother Richard, brother Dennis, sister JoAnn (Plumoff), and brother Charles.

As a young girl in a small farming community growing up during the Depression followed by the war years, she attended Catholic grammar school and public high school.  As a teenager, she worked summers in the local canning factory, performing many tasks including shelling peas and beans and shucking corn.  She was an avid tennis player who continued to play well into her later life.  She and her brothers also loved to play baseball and golf.

Maxine and her husband David attended high school together in Wells, and graduated as Wells Wildcats in June of 1945.  She went on to study nursing at Saint Mary’s Hospital of Nursing in Minneapolis and after graduating, became a registered nurse in 1948.  Once David was mustered out of the Army, they wed on February 12, 1949.

Over the next fifteen years, Maxine and David (deceased) had many adventures and eight children – David, Richard, Daniel, Robert, Sarah, Christopher, Paul and Susan (deceased).  After several moves, the family eventually settled in Southern California in the late 1950’s.  A move to La Mirada, California had the family joining the relatively new parish of Saint Philip Benizi in Fullerton, California.  Maxine was an active volunteer in many ways for the parish while shepherding her children into adulthood, including working as a school nurse at the parish school and as a member of various parish committees and organizations.

Family meant everything to Maxine – love for husband, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and the rest of the extended family.  After her children were mostly grown in the early 1980’s, she reactivated her nursing credentials, obtained a Bachelor of Science diploma in Health Science from the University of Redlands, and worked as an oncology nurse at La Habra Community Hospital.

Maxine continued to be active in various volunteer women’s groups at Saint Philips.  She was the parish nominee for Catholic Woman of the Year for Volunteerism to the Diocese of Orange in 2015.

After La Habra Community Hospital closed, Maxine volunteered at the Saint Jude Oncology Infusion Center, where she worked past her 90TH birthday.

Maxine was an avid sports fan, tennis player, gardener, Girl Scout leader, Cub Scout leader, volunteer, and most of all, mother.  She is survived by seven of her children, seventeen grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.  She will be missed by all.

In lieu of flowers the family has requested any donations go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in her name.