The memorial service for Mel and Delaine “Dee” Maxon will be held at 10:30 a.m. MT Saturday, July 3, 2021 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lemmon.
A public visitation will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. with a Rosary Service at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, July 2, 2021 at the church.
Delaine “Dee” May Maxon and Melvin “Mel” Joseph Maxon, high school sweethearts, were married on July 6, 1953 in McLaughlin and were married 67 years before COVID complications took their lives in December 2020. Mel, 86, died on December 11 at Monument Health in Rapid City. Dee, 85, died December 13 at West River Regional Health Center in Hettinger, ND.
Mel was born October 19, 1934 to Laurence and Mary (Ament) Maxon at Athboy. In 1939, the family moved to a ranch 7 miles south of McLaughlin.
Mel loved basketball. He played with the McLaughlin Midgets in high school and with the Wolves and the legendary Bob Wachs at Northern State College. He played with the amateur basketball league for 30 years, assisting the Lemmon and Hettinger teams win in the state tournaments for South Dakota and North Dakota. He was inducted into the SD Amateur Hall of Fame in 2000. He coached basketball, football and track throughout his education career in Gettysburg and Lemmon and received a 25 year coaching award from the South Dakota High School Coaches Association in 1986. Mel also loved golf and was proud to have two holes-in-one. He enjoyed playing rummy, pinochle and bridge and was a regular at the rummy table on Friday night at the Legion.
Mel accepted his first position in 1958 with the Gettysburg Public School System. In 1965 he accepted a job with the Lemmon Public School system to teach, coach and serve as the Athletic Director. In 1990 he became high school principal. He was chosen Administrator of the Year by the South Dakota Association of Student Councils in 1993. In 1997 he was chosen Region Principal of the Year by the South Dakota Association of Secondary Principals. He retired in 1999.
During the summer months Mel worked as a crop adjuster for Federal Crop Insurance for 28 years. He and Dee managed the Lemmon Country Club and Golf Course with their friends, Bill and Dee Kohn, for three years. Mel also was the auditor for the Municipal Liquor Store and Ranger Bar for a number of years.
Mel was president of the Country Club Golf Course, president of Lions Club, member of the board of directors for Five Counties Hospital and Nursing Home, and member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, where he served on the Church Council, in the church choir, and as Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus. In 2002 he was recognized by Modern Woodmen of America for contributions of volunteer community service.
Dee was born November 17, 1935 to Jacob and Selma (Dockter) Dietrich at McLaughlin and grew up on her parents’ farm 17 miles east of McLaughlin.
Dee was a working mom while Mel earned his college degree, raising three young girls while working as a secretary. She took some time off from the work world as the family grew to seven. She was a great cook serving up food from her German-Russian heritage (borscht, strudels, keekla and kuken). Fresh baked treats were usually waiting for her kids when they came home from school.
She was a creative seamstress, sewing her daughters matching dresses (including one set made from a prom dress she wore) and later kept the Barbie and Ken dolls well-stocked with clothes. Dee knit each of her kids and grandkids a personalized Christmas stocking, did ceramics, and planned fun activities for her sons’ Cub Scout troop when she served as Den Mother. She loved playing cards, especially bridge and pinochle.
Dee inherited her mother’s kindness and concern for others as well as her strong commitment to family ties. Her parents, Jacob and Selma, moved to a small home across the alley so she could care for them, and her sister, Lorraine, moved to Lemmon for Dee’s support.
Dee served as the Food Stamp Cashier for Perkins County when the program began in 1967 until the program was integrated into the grocery stores. She also worked for Wheeler Mfg. Jewelry Company for 30 years, retiring in 1999.
Dee was a member of St. Mary’s Church and was active in St. Mary’s Altar Society, St. Anne’s Circle, and the Catholic Daughters of America. She was a member of Five Counties Hospital Auxiliary, served as treasurer, and worked in the Hospital Auxiliary’s Thrift Shop.
Mel and Dee cherished spending time with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They enjoyed traveling on bus tours to various parts of the country and made a trip to Germany, where they spent a day with Dee’s Russian-speaking family with the help of a local host and interpreter.
They are survived by their four daughters: Julie (Galen) Balster of Alexandria, VA, Holly (Joseph) Langenfeld of Falls Church, VA, Kristy (Darren) Messner of Belle Fourche, and Michele (Thomas) Webb of Friendswood, TX; two sons, Brett (Aslam) Maxon of Maple Grove, MN and Jeffrey (Jacki) Maxon of Burnsville, MN; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; Dee’s two brothers, Les and Kenny; and Mel’s two sisters, Marilyn and Kate, and brother, George.
They were preceded in death by a daughter, Brenda Nelson; Dee’s parents, Selma and Jacob Dietrich, three sisters (Aurelia, Lucy and Lorraine), and four brothers (Elmer, Martin, Marvin, Jay and Elwood); Mel’s parents, Mary and Laurence Maxon, and his two sisters (Arlene and Lois) and six brothers (Bud, Dick, Lyle, Frank, Charles, and Kenny).