Maxine McDermott Hill, 86, Kansas City, passed away Nov. 1, 2016 at her home. Services are Monday, Nov. 7, 2016 at McGilley Antioch Chapel, 3325 NE Vivion Road, Kansas City. Visitation from 6:00 – 8:00, Memorial Service at 8:00.
Maxine was born Helena Maxine McDermott, January 12th 1930 in Creston, Iowa during the great depression. She was a premature baby and lucky to have survived during that time. She was a sickly child and very small in stature so she acquired the nickname “little Mickey McDermott.”
Her father, Kenton R. McDermott was of Scots/Irish descent and was the town postmaster. Her mother Helen Sackett was of Dutch descent. Helen was very religious and a strict disciplinary figure grilling Maxine daily on her school studies.
Maxine began to bloom in her early years when she became the champion speller of the county in the 7th grade and won the spelling contest at Greenfield High school.
She went on to be very involved in sports, which she claimed saved and shaped her life. She played on the women’s basketball team in High School and college where she acquired the nickname "Queen Maxine." She attended Northwest Missouri State University 1947-1949 and was crowned Home Coming Queen in 1948.
After graduation she taught elementary school for seven years in Omaha, NE and was a flight attendant for United Airlines out of Chicago. She married Harold Hill in the 1950s and had two children, Scott Hill born in Hartford, CT and Karen Hill born in St. Louis, MO. They divorced in the late 1960’s after a transfer to Kansas City. She briefly worked for American Express Travel Agency in Kansas City before she joined forces with the Alameda Plaza Hotel of Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, as a reservationist. The company was owned by the JC Nichols Company, at the time, and was run by Philip Pistilli, the President of Alameda Plaza Inc.
In 1975 Maxine was appointed General Manager, by Phillip Pisitilli, of the newly re-decorated and re-named Raphael Hotel of Kansas City, The building was formerly known as the Villa Serena and was purchased by JC Nichols.
In the 1980’s Maxine was elected the FIRST woman President of the Hotel/Motel Association of Greater Kansas City, and in 1994 she was named “Hotelier of the Year” by the Hotel/Motel Association of Greater Kansas City. She retired to her home in the Northland area of Kansas City in 1996.
Maxine had amazing energy, a mind for details, and desire to succeed. Her career philosophy, was something she called, the “chicken noodle soup treatment” and that’s what she gave her guests. She always used to say: “I like people.”
She is preceded in death by her son, Scott H. Hill and survived by her daughter, Karen Hill (partner Adam Dunaway) of Chicago.
Fond memories and condolences may be left at www.mcgilleyantiochchapel.com as arrangements are under the direction of McGilley Antioch Chapel, 816-453-7700.
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