Edwin B. Maxwell

A funeral service celebrating the life of Edwin B. Maxwell, 97, of Alexandria, will be held at 10:30 A.M. Saturday, December 27, 2014 at Alexandria Baptist Church, 94 W. Main St., Alexandria with Pastor Larry Stewart as celebrant. Burial will follow at Maple Grove Cemetery in ALEXANDRIA with military honors rendered by the Licking County Veterans Alliance.

Ed passed away Monday, December 22, 2014 at SharonBrooke in Newark. He was born January 16, 1917 in New Milton, West Virginia to the late Bessie R. Bode and William B. Maxwell.

Ed was a 1935 graduate of Granville High School. He worked at home on the farm until 1939 when he went to National Schools in Los Angeles and studied diesel and gas engineering. In 1941, Ed worked at Patterson Field in Fairborn, OH, and in 1942, transferred to Fort Benning, GA and helped set up the sub-depot at Lawson Field. In 1943, he went into the Army Air Force as an Aircraft Mechanic. His two years overseas in India and Burma were with the 1st Air Commando Group and the 4th Combat Cargo Group.

Ed and Gene McCollum were married in June 1944 in the Granville Baptist Church while home on furlough. After discharge from the Service in March 1946, he went back to work for the Government at Wright Field and was there until December 1949. He and his brother-in-law, Ed Lehman, bought a garage and service station in Alexandria that was operated until sold in 1962. The Newark Air Force Station came into being at this time, so Ed went back to work for the Government. Ed and his wife both worked there until his retirement in 1977 and Gene's in 1979.

Although very independent, Ed was always thinking and doing for others. He shared his ability to fix anything and devoted much of his time to his community by volunteering with the Alexandria Service Club, Alexandria Parks, and his church family. He was a member of Alexandria Baptist Church, Center Star Lodge #11 F & A.M. of Granville, Order of Eastern Star #551, American Legion, and was Past Commander of Alexandria VFW.

Surviving are his daughters and son-in-law, Carol A. and Douglas Clark of Martinsburg, and Janet L. Hawkins of Alexandria; eight grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; brother, Kenneth B. Maxwell of Granville; and sister-in-law, Mary Ellen Mohler.

In addition to his parents, Ed was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Gene K. (McCollum) Maxwell, who died May 12, 2012; brother, Rex Maxwell; and sisters, Gladys Thomas and Mary Lehman.

The family will receive friends from 4 to 8 P.M. Friday, December 26, 2014 at the McPeek-Hoekstra Funeral Home, 133 S. Prospect St., Granville. Online condolences may be expressed at www.mcpeekhoekstra.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to Alexandria Baptist Church or Hospice of Central Ohio, P.O. Box 430, Newark, Ohio 43058