William “Bill” Henry Maxon, age 82, of Peculiar, passed away Saturday, December 10, 2016, at his home.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, December 17, 2016 at the First Christian Church, Harrisonville, MO with visitation from 9:00-10:00.
Burial will be in Orient Cemetery, Harrisonville. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to Week of Compassion by writing a check to First Christian Church, Harrisonville, MO and putting “Bill Maxon—Week of Compassion” in the memo line.
Bill was born September 14, 1934, the son of William Calvin and Myrtle (Rice) Maxon. He grew up in Kingfisher, OK. On August 3, 1958, he was married to Mabel Tarpey in Stillwater, OK. They made their home in Kingfisher, OK, Hazel Green, KY, Dos Palos, CA, Kansas City, Independence, and Harrisonville, MO before moving to their farm in rural Peculiar, MO in 1971.
Bill’s first job was helping his brother Bob in the wheat harvest. He graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in agriculture. After college, he served as a Church World Service Team Member in Greece, helping to improve agriculture in the war-torn country. After returning to the states he taught multiple science subjects at Hazel Green Academy in Hazel Green, KY and was supervisor in the boys’ dorm. He served in migrant ministry in California, then moved to Missouri to work with the University of Missouri Extension Service. While working there, he obtained a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. After retiring from Extension in 1984, he continued to work various jobs, including at D&I Wood Products, Freeman Water District #7 as meter reader and plant operator, and Adessa Wholesale Car Lot in Lee’s Summit where he got to “play” with many models of cars.
Bill was a man of wisdom and service. He was an active member of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Harrisonville, Missouri, where he sang in the choir for many years, was choir director in the 70s, and was an active participant in the outreach of the church. Bill loved everything about cars. He loved to drive them, look at them, work on them, and talk about them. He had a brilliant mind and enjoyed exercising it by solving the puzzles on “Car Talk,” learning new things, tackling hard questions, and teaching others. He also loved to listen to and talk about classical music, reminisce about the years he lived in Greece, make pancakes for his grandkids, sing, eat ice cream, and go “camping” in the sparsest of trailers and the wildest of places. Most of all, he loved his wife, of whom he said, “she’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Bill was preceded in death by his parents, William and Myrtle Maxon, and his siblings, Mildred, Bob, and Don. He is survived by his wife, Mabel Maxon of Peculiar; two children, Sophia Smither and her husband, Richard of Harrisonville, and William Maxon and his wife, Chellie of Lee’s Summit; five grandchildren, Kerry Morgan and her husband, Casey, Ryan Smither and his wife, Brandie, Shayne Smither, Curtis Maxon, and Ben Maxon; and two great-grandchildren, Colton and Sarah.
