Matriarch
September 16, 1921 - January 15, 2020
Muriel Maxine Bidwell was born September 16, 1921, on the Bidwell Ranch in Hat Creek, CA to Charles McKinley “Mac” and Birdie Lena (Haynes) Bidwell. She was the oldest of five children and worked on the family ranch while helping to raise her four younger siblings. Maxine attended Lincoln Elementary School, a one-room schoolhouse, in Hat Creek, and graduated from Fall River High School in McArthur in 1938. She attended San Francisco Junior College and Fashion Academy School of Design in San Francisco. She married the love of her life, Floyd Logan Summers, son of Robert & Mabel (Callison) Summers on March 6, 1941 in Reno, NV. The couple had two children, Floyd Robert and Lynda Irene Summers. She was a Boy Scout Den mother, a Girl Scout Troop leader, and was involved in all of her children’s activities. She loved Jesus Christ and was an active member of the Fall River Community United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday School.
Floyd and Maxine owned and operated Summers Hardware in Fall River Mills. In 1968, they designed and built their dream home on Eastman Lake. In 1974, the Summers sold their store and enjoyed a life of camping, hunting, traveling, fishing and boating on Eastman and Fall River lakes, and spending time with family.
Maxine loved family reunions. In 1986, Maxine, her three sisters, and niece Tammy (DeAtley) Babcock, traveled to the Bidwells of the World Family Reunion in England hosted by her cousin, Hugh Bidwell, Lord Mayor of London.
The couple sold their home on Eastman Lake and moved to Redding, CA in 1990. They liked the mild winters and seeing new places. After Floyd’s death in 2004, Maxine continued to have adventures. She enjoyed exploring nature and history with her cousin, Marilyn Rountree. Throughout her life, Maxine collected stories and histories, opals and agates, cacti and succulents, and friends. She was a lifetime member of the Shasta County, Millville, and Fort Crook Historical Societies and the Bidwell Family Association. She fiercely and passionately loved her family and enjoyed family picnics and reunions.
In September of 2018, Maxine returned to the Fall River Valley and resided in skilled nursing at Mayers Memorial Hospital. She remained sharp and active and even enjoyed an airplane ride for her 98th birthday surveying her beloved Hat Creek and Fall River Valley from above.
After a brief illness, Maxine ascended into glory on January 15, 2020 in Fall River Mills, CA. She was preceded in death by her parents, Mac & Birdie Bidwell; husband, Floyd Logan Summers; son, Floyd Robert Summers; and siblings, Floyd Norman Bidwell, Marjorie Bidwell Earnest, Virginia Bidwell DeAtley, and Joann Bidwell Wolf.
Maxine is survived by her daughter Lynda (Jay) Kimball of Lebanon, OR; daughter-in-law Marilyn Summers of Medford, OR; grandchildren Sherrie (Michael) Ingram of Sweet Home, OR, Craig Summers of Kananaski Country, Alberta, Canada, Nicole Summers of Holbrook, NY, and Bryan (Crystal) Kimball of Lebanon, OR; great-grandchildren KateLynn Jennings of Edgewood, WA, Carter and Cole Kimball of Lebanon, OR, Victoria, Adria, and Jacob Ingram of Sweet Home, OR, and James and Ruby Sparling of Holbrook, NY; and two great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by sister-in-law Ethel Martin Bidwell of Hat Creek, CA; first cousins Pauline Haynes Goza of Cassel, CA, Portia Lonquist Reed of Chelan, WA, and Nelda Toreson DuFault of Sacramento, CA and many, many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was our matriarch, our family historian, our rock, and our greatest supporter.
Services will be conducted Saturday, February 15, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. at the Community United Methodist Church in Fall River Mills with inurnment at Fall River Cemetery to follow; a meal will be provided afterwards at the LIon’s Hall in McArthur.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Fort Crook Historical Society, PO Box 397, Fall River Mills, CA 96028.
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