Maxine Hartman

In memory of our mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Maxine Blanche Hamilton Hartman, 89, of St. Anne, a self-described tough old bird, entered into the kingdom of God, Saturday (May 7, 2011) at the Miller Center in Kankakee, after a short illness. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Clancy-Gernon-Houk Funeral Home, St. Anne. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Anne Catholic Church. Father James Fanale will officiate. Burial will be in the St. Anne Catholic Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the family wishes. She was born Aug. 30, 1921, in Cherryvale, Kan., the daughter of John and Margaret Jane Peace Hamilton. On Dec. 21, 1940, in Columbus, Kan., she married Donald Hartman, of Bourbonnais. They celebrated 67 years of marriage before his death Jan. 11, 2008. Maxine and Donald farmed west of St. Anne for 38 years, later moving into the village of St. Anne. She always had the farmhouse doors and her heart open to family and friends. As soon as the school doors closed for the summer, Maxine's old farmhouse door opened to nieces and nephews for summer fun on the farm. As a farm wife, she prepared numerous lunches for the haying and shelling done by neighboring farmers. The pantry in her old farmhouse was always filled with hundreds of jars with food she had canned from her huge garden. What would Sunday dinner be without her fried chicken or the St. Anne Pumpkin Fest without her cheese soup? Beautiful afghans, baby sweaters and doilies were crocheted by her. Every Christmas and Easter she would design and crochet a gift for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Christmas 2010 she made 45 gifts. Her "fuzzy bookmarks" that she made with love were special to her family, friends and especially to the Nash Middle School students of Clifton. She was an avid reader and always said, "If you have a book to read, you are never lonely." She was a member of the St. Anne Catholic Church, where she was active in the St. Anne Sodality, serving many funeral dinners and preparing cabbage slaw for the St. Anne Novena dinner. She was also a member of the St. Anne Westside Home Extension. Surviving are four daughters and two sons-in-law, Donna Trost, of Kankakee, Jayne Anne and Louie LaMarre, of Manteno, Pamela Hanson, of Ashkum, and Patricia "Pixie" and Donald Burelson, of Tombstone, Ariz.; grandchildren, Michael (Tami) Trost, Timothy (Barbara) Trost, Troy (Ann) Trost, Jeffrey (Mary) Trost, David Trost, Scott (Michele) Hanson, Todd (Stephanie) Hanson, Carl Smith, Heather Heath and Trisha McAllister. She was a wonderful great-grandmother and stepgreat-grandmother to 36 children. Also surviving are sisters-in-law, Dorine Altmyer, Lucille Kohan, Bernie Hartman and Vivian Duchand; and special friends, Steve and Becky Dandurand, Jim Trost, Joe and Therese Cote and Carol Ponton. She was preceded in death by her parents; siblings, Viola, Marigold, Henry and John Hamilton, Hannah Clifford, Susan Woollard, Gail Smith and Alice LaBarge; sons-in-law, Frank Trost and Dale Hanson; two great-granddaughters, Erin and Erica Trost; and her "son" brother-in-law, LaVerne Hartman; and many nieces and nephews.

Maxine Hartman

August 30, 1921 - May 7, 2011