Florence Catherine Etzler Maxson

Florence Etzler-Charles-Maxson was 88 years old when she died on June 1, 2005.She will forever be remembered in our hearts as our beautiful mother and grandmother. Florence was born on April 20,1917 to two Czechoslovaks, Mike and Mary Michalec Etzler. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GSL4-P2B Her mother Mary immigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1904. Her father's parents were Czech immigrants. Florence was native to Minnesota and born on a family farm. The Mike Etzler farm was located in Fawn Lake Township, close to Lincoln, Minnesota, where she grew up as one of seven living children. Her parents Mike and Mary Etzler are buried in Calvary Cemetery, Citrus Heights, CA. All her siblings are now deceased. They were Bill Etzler, Rapid City, South Dakota; Helen Snow,Sacramento,California; Anne Muma, McCloud, California; Mary Daniels, Reno, Nevada; Alice Carpenter, Sacramento, California, Delores Rice, Elk Grove, California. The Mike Etzler children's lineage has now passed from their generation to the next. As a young adult in the late 1930s, she moved to California with her sisters. She worked as a nanny. There she met and married Russell Charles. Florence and Russell had two sons, Leland and Gaylan Charles.They owned a grocery store and lived in Ceres, California, which is near Modesto, California. In the 1950s, Russell died, and Florence moved her sons to Sacramento to live. Later, Florence met Paul Maxson, a small business owner. Florence and Paul married on November 4,1954 and had one daughter Karen Maxson. Her husband Paul died in 1995. Both Florence and Paul Maxson are buried at St. Mary's Cemetery, Sacramento, CA. Florence's children, Leland, Gaylan Charles, Karen Maxson are all current residents of Sacramento, California. Florence was a devout Catholic. She was a life-long parishioner of St. Rose's Parish in the Sacramento Diocese. She worked for Sacramento City Unified School District as a cafeteria worker at Fern Bacon Jr. High School and Parkway Elementary School. Of her youngest son, Gaylan, Florence's grandchildren are Gabrielle Charles Lynas and Gillian Charles Viers, the daughters of Gaylan Charles of Sacramento, California and Glenna Hardin of Placerville, California. Her great grandchildren are Holden, Quinn and Avery Lynas, born to Gabrielle and TJ Lynas of Fallbrook California. Her other great grandsons are Carson and Everett Viers born to Gillian and Josh Viers of Merced, California. There are no great-great grandchildren yet for this side of the family. Of her first son, Leland, Florence's grandson is Russ Charles of Rancho Murieta,CA. He and his sister are the children of Leland and Diane Charles of Sacramento, California. Her great grandchildren are Shannon and Justin Charles of Rancho Murieta, CA- born to Russell and Anna Charles. Shannon Charles gave birth to Ariana Chavez in 2015 and Antonio Chavez in 2019. Leland's daughter Rene gave birth to a great granddaughter Amanda in a first marriage. Rene later married Dennis Bean of Antelope, California in a second marriage. Rene died of cancer in March 2023. She was only 57 years of age. Amanda was married to Stephen Clifford of Auburn California, and they have a son,Lucas,born in August 2010 and a daughter, Brooklyn Taylor Clifford born in March 2013. They were Florence's first great-great grandchildren. Florence was a devoted wife, beautiful mother, loving grandmother, dedicated citizen and good friend to many. She lived a life of laughter and love which lives on in our hearts. At the time of her death, many families and friends donated money to Florence. This money was applied to an engraving of the names of Florence and Paul Maxson located on VIP plaque #2 in Sacramento's State Capitol Park World Peace Rose Garden. We thank you all for your generous gifts in her memory. Florence was an avid rose gardener who loved this rose garden and the McKinley Park Rose Garden very much.

~~~~~~Obituary Sacramento Bee: June 6, 2005: Florence Maxson loved School Cafeteria career by Steve Gibson Sacramento Bee Staff Writer Florence Maxson, loved children, so her job as a cafeteria worker, first at Fern Bacon Middle School, later at Parkway Elementary, was a perfect fit. "She really enjoyed being around those kids," her son, Gaylan Charles recalled in an interview Friday, two days after his 88-year-old mother's death. The cause was complications of surgery, he said. Her children estimated that Mrs. Maxson served tens of thousands of meals during the combined 20 years she worked for the Sacramento City Unified School District. Mrs. Maxson's only complaint, her children recalled, was about the high sugar and fat content in the food. "She didn't think it was good enough for the kids." her son said. Mrs. Maxson made up for it at home, though, preparing low fat meals for her family, her children said. Shortly after closing out 15 years at Fern Bacon in 1985, she returned part time in the cafeteria at Parkway, and stayed until the early 1990s, her children said. "Whatever needed to be done, Florence did it." said Lynn Simi Anderson, who worked with her in the Fern Bacon cafeteria. "She was very dedicated." Born and raised in Minnesota, she came West during the Great Depression with her two sisters, stopping in Sacramento and moving into the YWCA when they ran out of money, her family said. A few years later she met and married Russell Charles, who worked for an oil company; they had two sons. During part of the1940's and 1950's, the couple owned and operated a grocery store in Ceres, Stanislaus County. After her first husband's death in the mid-1950s, she married Paul Maxson, who owned a bookkeeping service. They had one daughter. In addition to working in the Sacramento school cafeterias, Mrs. Maxson volunteered for the Sierra Club and St. Rose Parish, of which she was a member. Her second husband also died before she did.