Maxine M Cain

Maxine Mae (Miller) Cain was born September 10, 1923 in Cotesfield, Nebraska; parents were Niels Herman Miller and Freda Kristina (Christensen) Miller. Siblings were Fern, Imy, Betty, Eldene and Jerry. She went to schools in Dannevirke and Ord and graduated from Gothenburg High School in Nebraska. Following school, Maxine worked at a local law firm and the local bank while continuing a long distance relationship with Dale Cain whom she had met while in high school. Dale was in the Army, stationed at Lowry Field in Denver when they were married on May 17, 1943. Maxine then moved to Denver to begin her family with Dale. World War II changed things by requiring Dale to be in California and then a 2 year stint in Europe, returning from service in the fall of 1945. Maxine started the family with her first child, Neva, on her 21st birthday while Dale was away. Undoubtedly a difficult time.

After the war, things settled down and the rest of the family came along: Roger, David and Debra. Maxine was the home stewardess extraordinaire. She nurtured and encouraged all her children and always supported them in their school, music, art and athletic events. Along the way she learned the art of decorating cakes. If someone could think of a design for a birthday, anniversary or wedding cake, Maxine could make it in spectacular fashion. Later, frosting became delicate flower decorations for amazing hollowed out sugar eggs for Easter with elaborate interiors of bunnies and spring flowers. She made enough money from sales of these creations for international travel with Debra to Europe and Asia.

Throughout her life, Maxine was an expert in the kitchen. Her home cooked meals and homemade bread and rolls were always enjoyed by the family and she especially liked to prepare meals for big family celebrations where the entire living room became a table for feasting. This strong connection with family led to her being the family historian. She loved taking photographs, keeping track of relatives and creating family tree poster boards for family reunions. Later in life she also took up painting. Her tole and decorative paintings demonstrated her creativity and her very steady hand and eye for color and light. She loved giving her creations away. And through her painting classes she made many wonderful friends with who she stayed connected.

Maxine and Dale enjoyed the mountains and especially the trout fishing which began when the children were young. They continued after the children were grown and sometimes went for two days and spent the night in the back of a pickup truck. They continued having adventures after retirement age and traveled by car throughout the US and Canada for weeks at a time. Maxine was quite proud of her marriage that stretched beyond 72 years.

Gardening was also a passion of Maxine's and she loved growing fabulous flowers in addition to produce that she could can or freeze. She continued doing this into her 90's even after she became Dale's caregiver following a fall that left him wheelchair bound in 2010. And she continued to find time to manually keep track of and record every penny spent on healthcare and drugs and constantly monitored the family expenses and investments. She even daily recorded the Dow Jones Industrial Average until just a year ago. And she did all of this without ever using a computer. Maxine also made time for sewing, knitting, needlepoint and keeping up with current events. What an amazing, sweet, caring, creative woman she was.

Survived by her brother Jerry Miller (Rosemary), children Neva Blubaugh (Jim - deceased) , Roger (Alice) Cain, David (Debbie) Cain, Debra (Gary) Christlieb, and by 11 grandchildren Becky Castor (Tom), Jason Cain (Sheila), Lori Blubaugh (Chris), Mark Blubaugh (Vanessa), Tim Blubaugh (Lumiko), Tess Smeltz (Stephen), Dillon Christlieb, Sadie Christlieb, Stacie Dalpe (Dustin), Whitney Ratzell (Shane), Eric Cain, and 11 great-grandchildren Anna, Madison, Evan, Lily, Nina, Dane, Penny, Delaney, Annaliese, Calvin,

and Oliver.

Maxine was preceded in death by her loving husband, Harold Dale Cain in 2015. She s survived by her children Neva Blubaugh (Jim-deceased), Roger (Alice) Cain, David (Debbie) Cain, and Debra (Gary) Christlieb; 11 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and her brother Jerry (Rosemary) Miller. A memorial service will be held at Olinger Moore Howard Chapel on Fri, Oct 27 at 10:30 am with the interment at Fort Logan National Cemetery, staging area C, at 12:15pm.