Maxine Schumaker, 95, of Holton, KS, passed away at home on January 14, 2020. Mary Maxine Eames was born July 17, 1924, at Whiting, KS, the fourth daughter and the fourth of seven children born to Charles Augustus and Ethel Frances (Woodward) Eames. She grew up on a farm two miles south of Whiting and attended Parallel country school. She graduated from Whiting Rural High School in 1942.

After high school, she and her sister, Amy, boarded the train at Whiting and travelled to Washington, D.C., where they joined their sister, Milly. Maxine worked at the U.S. Census Bureau in Suitland, MD. After a year of working there and sightseeing the area, she was ready to return to Kansas, eventually moving to Topeka, KS, where she worked at the Supply Depot at Pauline, KS. She also did housekeeping for several families.

She became a member of the Whiting United Methodist Church at a young age. Her great grandfathers, C. A. Eames and D. O. Woodward, were among the earliest settlers at Whiting, each making their homestead south of town in the late 1860s.

She was united in marriage to Willie G. Schumaker on September 4, 1948, at Hiawatha, KS. She then became a farmwife and homemaker, living on the same farm three miles south of Whiting for 60 years until moving to Holton in 2008 to live with her daughter. Willie died July 8, 1990. She was also preceded in death by her father and mother, Charles 1958 & Ethel 1982; two brothers, Willard Eames 1967 & Frank Eames 1998; and two sisters, Mildred Bussler 2001 & Pauline Finger 2014.

Maxine is survived by her son, Dennis Schumaker (Gay) of Whiting; daughter, Debbie Schumaker of Holton; one sister, Alma McKinney of Port St. Lucie, FL; one brother, Donald Eames (Maralea) of Jenks, OK; three grandchildren, Samuel Schumaker (Christi) of Whiting, Emmett Schumaker (Morgan) of Whiting, and Kallie Kirk (Derek) of Holton; eight great grandchildren, Madison, Addyson, Comyn, Aiden, Kara, Declan, Annistyn, and Ledger; sister-in-law, Marjorie Eames of Falls City, NE; and 16 nieces and nephews.

Graveside services will be 3:00 P.M. Saturday, January 18, 2020, at Spring Hill Cemetery at Whiting. She will lie in state beginning Friday at Mercer Funeral Home in Holton. The family will greet friends beginning at 1:00 P.M. Saturday. We will then follow in procession to the cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Whiting Community Center, and sent c/o Mercer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 270, Holton, KS 66436. Please visit mercerfuneralhomes.com to leave a special message for the family.