January 15 1929 July 16 2022
Maxine Isabella (Hedgecock) Ross, age 93, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, July 16, 2022. Born in Warren, Michigan, to the late Nona I. Hedgecock and Chase M. Hedgecock. Beloved wife of Dick (George Richard Ross), who preceded her in death. Loving mother of 5: Sandra (Thomas) Griebe, Gayle (Dennis) Foley, Brian (Patricia) Ross, Joy (James) Klarich, Kelly (Kristin) Ross, grandmother of thirteen, and great-grandmother of fourteen. Beloved younger sister of the late Virginia (Hedgecock) Weidenhamer and the late Darrell Hedgecock. After losing her father at age fourteen, Maxine graduated from Lincoln High School in Warren (formerly Van Dyke), Michigan, then earned a journalism degree from Michigan State College (University). After graduation, she and her sister Virginia took a month-long tour in Europe with Virginia’s sorority, and it was one of her most cherished memories. When she returned from her trip, she went to work for the J. Walter Thompson (JWT) advertising agency in Detroit. Along with a love of learning and travel, music and dance held a special place in Maxine’s heart. Ballet lessons with her good friend Rose Marie Floyd, the future acclaimed teacher and choreographer, began at age sixteen and continued well into her late 40s. After leaving her position at JWT, Maxine began teaching ballroom dance at Arthur Murray Studio, where she met her husband. They were married in 1954. Maxine and Dick were always lovely to watch as they glided around a dance floor. She passed on her love of music and dance to her children by introducing them to musicals and ballet at an early age. Although reserved, Maxine was always willing to try new things, sampling art, equestrian, and fencing lessons in college. When her children were young, she took cake decorating lessons and furthered her sewing skills. She took flute lessons when her daughters decided to play band instruments and piano lessons well into her 80s. Even in her later years, she was game for trying downhill skiing (once) and took rides on the back of Joy and Jim’s jet ski until she was nearly 90 years old. She loved to read, and believed in public libraries. Her children have fond memories of checking out armloads of books from libraries in Utica, Warren, and Centerline, Michigan. Whenever one of her children wanted to know the meaning of a word, she would respond, “Get a dictionary.” Her college dictionary got plenty of family use. Maxine’s children were the light of her life. She insisted on celebrations of each person’s birthday, even after they became adults. She attended as many of her grandchildren’s school activities, recitals, sports games, and graduations as she could. Her grown children could expect welcome home messages on their answering machines when they went out of town and even calls twice a year reminding them to change their clocks for Daylight Savings. Maxine had a quiet sense of humor. She loved words and word play, enjoyed the humor found in Readers’ Digest magazines, and could laugh about herself. After Dick retired, Maxine continued to work, taking a job in the registration department at Oakland University. She treasured the friendships formed with her co-workers and continued to gather with them regularly after she retired in her early 80s. Another group of long-term friends included the women in her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi (AOPi). She was still attending sorority meetings until very recently, enjoying luncheons, Christmas auctions, and fund-raising activities. Her Christian faith was very important to her. She was able to use her journalism skills while raising her children by editing the Trinity Lutheran Church newsletter for several years. She and Dick were two of the founding members of Shepherd’s Gate Lutheran Church, and she did the public relations and advertising for the church in its early years and occasionally played keyboards with the worship team. There will be a visitation at 10:00 a.m., followed by a memorial service at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 21, 2022, at Shepherd’s Gate Lutheran Church, 12400 23 Mile Rd., Shelby Twp. Burial will be in High Point, North Carolina, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Smile Train donate.smiletrain.org/givenow would be appreciated. Share your memories at www.sullivanfuneraldirectors.com.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Maxine Ross January 15 1929 July 16 2022.
Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Directors
Death notice for the town of: Royal Oak, state: Michigan