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| Maxheimers wear many hats in retirement |
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| Written by Maddy Houk / Patterson Irrigator / | |
| Wednesday, 07 November 2007 | |
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HAPPY AT HOME: Milt and Mary Maxheimer moved to Patterson in 1999 from their longtime home in Montana to be closer to their daughter, Grace, whose family lives next door to Milt and Mary's new house.  Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator “Anyway, we hit if off,” Mary remembers. “Milt said, ‘See you next week,’ but I didn’t believe him.” That was almost 52 years ago — Dec. 14, 1955 — a date the Patterson couple still celebrates along with their Sept. 8, 1956, wedding day. They are still happily married, living next to their daughter and grandchildren. The Maxheimers’ meeting came about when Milt was in the U.S. Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton. Mary’s friend, Leatta, needed a car because her boyfriend didn’t have one. Milt had a car, dubbed “Maxi’s Taxi,” and he charged fellow Marines $1 a ride to Los Angeles. The Maxheimers well remember their first date when they rode the wooden roller coaster at Pike Amusement Park, a fixture in Long Beach for more than 50 years. Mary, who was still attending Excelsior High School in Norwalk, quit school to get married the following year. “Daddy was most unhappy,” Mary remembers. The Maxheimers lived on base at Camp Pendleton for 14 months until Milt was discharged. Then, they moved to Thompson Falls, Mont. That’s where they raised their three children, Steve Maxheimer of Billings, Mont., Robin Mavrides of Reno, Nev. and Grace McCord of Patterson. “Montana is a great place to live but hard to find a good place to work,” Milt said. After about 16 years of working in a sawmill and living from payday to payday, the family moved to Billings in Montana’s “banana belt,” a region with a slightly warmer climate than the cold Thompson Falls. “Montana is different from east to west,” Milt said. “In the west, there is logging and mining, and in the east there’s dude ranches and family ranches.” Mary, who hails from Los Angeles, liked it better when the Maxheimers moved to Billings — population 100,000. She finished her senior year of high school when her children were grown. Later, she graduated from East Montana College in Billings with a teaching degree and, for a while, taught as a substitute. Mary later became an independent travel agent in Billings, a job she enjoyed. Milt worked for Conoco-Phillips Oil Company for 25 years before he retired in 1998. The couple didn’t plan anything right after his retirement, although over the years, Mary and Milt had taken many trips throughout the world. “We didn’t want to do anything drastic for a year,” Milt said. In 1999, at the urging of daughter, Grace, and her husband, Dennis, the Maxheimers moved to Patterson. “Grace and Dennis wanted us to come here,” Mary said. “They wanted us to get out of the cold.”  Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator The Maxheimers also keep busy in other ways. Milt updates the family history annually and is in the process of writing a novel about the clan. “I wanted something to pass on, because when people die, the stories die,” Milt said. Milt is a member of the Patterson Lions Club. He attends annual reunions with his Marine buddies and is a member of the national First Marine Division Association and the Marine Corps League in Modesto. The couple belongs to St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Modesto and Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Patterson. They ride bikes and walk during the day — weather-permitting. Mary also enjoys sitting outside Signature Espresso Coffee Shop and seeing the goings-on around Plaza Circle. An avid reader, she also collects children’s books and has a room full of books in memory of her sister. She writes in her journal each day — something that led to her teaching a journaling program at Las Palmas Elementary School after a teacher saw Mary jotting one day at the coffee shop. For a long time Mary said she didn’t understand when people would say, “I’m so busy now — I don’t know how I ever worked.” Now, she said, she does. To reach Maddy Houk at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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