Marian Christina Maxwell

Family and grapes had always been an important part of Riverside’s longtime resident Marian Maxwell’s life. Maxwell was the daughter of Italian immigrants and she attributed her long life to red wine and garlic.

Born in Riverside, CA, she survived polio at age 2 without a limp, which she attributed to some homemade snake oil made by her father. She told of making ice cream with 25-cent chips of ice bought from the ice man in the Casa Blanca neighborhood of Riverside and of stomping grapes at the family ranch in Fontana.

She watched as her sisters danced with GI’s at an Inland Air Force base and at a dance hall in Riverside during World War 1.

Her parents, Joseph and Margaret Pagliuso, came to the Inland area from Los Angeles on a buckboard in the 1890’s. Her father was a blacksmith for the Arlington Heights Fruit Co., shoeing the horses that plowed furrows, drainage ditches for the prosperous citrus industry in Riverside. Later he planted his own citrus groves and vineyards in Fontana, along Mill Creek near Yucaipa and in Casa Blanca, where Maxwell’s mother was a homemaker.

Maxwell was the sixth child in a family of five brothers and three sisters. Though the children lived into their 90’s and beyond, Maxwell outlived all of her siblings, dying 3 days shy of her 110th birthday.

In Fontana, the family grew Mission grapes on 65 acres. Her father and his brother built a tiny one-room chapel and a windmill and dug a well by hand. They built a four-bedroom home with a pot-bellied stove where she remembered her mother making large pots of spaghetti.

“They used to make the wine in these big vats. We were little kids, and we’d climb up the ladder in our bare feet and we’d stomp the grapes. The chapel now rests at the site of the Fontana Historical Society in Fontana.”

Later they would invite family and friends from all around for dinner. The family cooked steaks on a barbecue big enough to cook for 70.

At the Casa Blanca ranch house, the family grew alfalfa and 10 acres of citrus. As the family grew, too, her father added room after room for the children. “Every time there was a new baby born, another room was added on, so our house was elongated. We made room. Every time there was a new baby born, my dad would take his accordion and go down into the cellar and take a sip of wine and play.”

When Maxwell was in her early 20’s, she was an active member of the YWCA and the Ayuda Club. She married Leland Maxwell, now deceased, in 1936 and had one daughter Rita Maxwell Koett, now 74.

She attended Riverside Business College, and because she spoke fluent Spanish, she became the court interpreter for Riverside’s Justice and Superior Courts. She was also a secretary for the Riverside Street Department, for civil engineers in Riverside, and for the family corporation for more than 50 years. She did the books for several properties she owned and remained a meticulous accountant until well past 100 years of age.

She enjoyed making wine at her daughter and son-in-law’s home vineyard in San Diego. “It’s fun when you bottle, because you have to sample.”

She was a member of St. Thomas Catholic Church for decades. Until recently, traveling and going places on a daily basis raised her spirits. She always enjoyed family gatherings and interacting with family and friends. She had a keen sense of humor. She loved seeing the family grow. Being with her grandchildren and great grandchildren brought her joy and a smile to her face.

She was a strong, fiercely independent, loving woman. She was the ultimate caregiver. These attributes contributed to her longevity but of course she attributed them to wine and garlic.

She is survived by her daughter, Rita Koett, her granddaughter Jennifer Koett, her grandson Dr. John Koett, her granddaughter Dr. Megan Olson Koett, her granddaughter Dr. Jamie Koett Seneca, her grandson Joe Seneca, her grandson Joshua Koett, her grandson Jared Koett, her granddaughter, Bree Williams Koett, her great grandsons Liam and Sam Koett, her great granddaughters Francesca and Michaela Koett, and great granddaughter Layne Seneca.

Rosary will be held at St. Thomas Catholic Church at 11:30 am August 13, 2021 followed by Mass at 12 pm. Interment at Olivewood Cemetery at 1:30 pm.