Sept. 7, 1915 – March 22, 2018

 

NATCHEZ — Graveside services for Ann Jane Shaw Maxwell, 102, Monroe, La., who died Thursday, March 22, 2018, at her residence, will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the direction of Young’s Funeral Home.

Mrs. Maxwell was born Sept. 7, 1915, in Dubach, the daughter of Edward Driscoll Shaw and Frances Engle Shaw.

She grew up in Bastrop, La., and was a graduate of Bastrop High School. She was also a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in education and was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.

She married Stanley Meserve Maxwell in 1937, and they lived on Manila Plantation, Lake St. John, where he was a farmer.

Mrs. Maxwell’s first teaching position was in Wisner, La. Mr. Maxwell liked to say she chose to marry him rather than continue teaching school. He added that their first home was a log cabin without running water — this meant she had to wash their dishes from the end of the pier on the lake.

In the early days of the Maxwells’ marriage, her transportation was a Tennessee walking horse named, Hope. Among her experiences in the years surrounding World War II and its shortages, was teaching women on the farm to make mattresses out of ticking material and cotton samples.

Ever the resourceful woman, Mrs. Maxwell solved the problem of her husband’s habit of going into the fields in his “white linen Sunday suit” and getting it muddy. One day she decided to cut up the suit and make baby clothes for her daughter — no more linen suit to scrub.

Mrs. Maxwell was known for her gourmet cooking — beef tongue and rare roasts were favorites of family and friends. Visitors left her house with sacks of fresh vegetables from her abundant garden.

She also was an accomplished duplicate bridge player.

Episcopal churches in Waterproof and St. Joseph benefited from her creativity in flower arranging. She always chose garden flowers and seasonal foliage to express nature’s bounty. Cotton stalks from area farmers and wild flowers were among her favorite materials for fall arrangements.

Mrs. Maxwell was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and one brother, E.D. Shaw of Monroe.

Survivors include two daughters, Frances Maxwell Cox of Monroe, and Susan Shaw Maxwell of New Orleans and Lake St. John; one granddaughter, Ann Jane Draper of Dallas; one grandson, Max Cox of Monroe; five great-grandchildren, Campbell Draper and Mary Maxwell Draper of Dallas, William Cox, Avery Cox and Iris Cox, all of Monroe; one niece, Lil Shaw Lowenbaum of Dallas; and one nephew, Bo Shaw of Monroe.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Christ Church of St. Joseph, Chennault Aviation and Military Museum in Monroe, or to a charity of choice. No flowers, please.