Shirley Ann Maxwell, 97, a resident of Oak Park for 55 years, died on Nov. 3, 2024. Born in 1927 to Helen Olah McCoy and Donald McCoy, she was raised on a farm without electricity or running water by her paternal grandparents after the divorce of her mother and father.
Her grandparents’ religion discouraged girls from reading for pleasure. So she secretly read by moonlight after she was sure her grandparents were asleep. She had a paternal half-sister, two maternal half-brothers, and a paternal stepsister.
A gifted pianist, her playing mesmerized all who heard her play. She artfully played Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” in under a minute and 40 seconds.
A widow, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, though she appeared temperamentally withdrawn at home, in the company of others she was vivacious, quick-witted and the life of the party.
Shirley was an English teacher until her marriage, at which time she was forced to resign (board of education policy at the time prohibited married women from teaching, lest they become pregnant. They did not want students exposed to a pregnant woman, for fear it would lead to questions about human reproduction.
Her final years were complicated by physical disability. Her spirit is free now.
Shirley was preceded in death by her husband, William T. Maxwell Jr., and her youngest son, David. She is survived by her two daughters, a son, a son-in-law, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
She and Bill were active participants in PADS, now known as Housing Forward. Please consider a donation to Housing Forward to ease the suffering of homelessness.