T.C. Maxwell
Published 6:00 pm Friday, May 6, 2011
Funeral services for T.C. Maxwell, of Brookhaven, are 2 p.m. onSaturday, May 7, at First Baptist Church, Brookhaven, with burialat Riverwood Memorial Park.
Visitation is Friday, May 6, from 5 until 9 p.m. at Riverwood.Visitation will continue at First Baptist Church preceding theservice Saturday from 1 until 2 p.m.
Mr. Maxwell, 89, died May 4, 2011, at his residence with hisfamily at his bedside. He was born March 29, 1922, in LincolnCounty to Willie Richard Maxwell, Sr. and Dora Beeson Maxwell.
Mr. Maxwell finished high school at Fair Oak Springs in 1941.After graduation he worked at the Boston Shoe Store and attendedthe NYA School in Brookhaven. When he finished his training at theNYA School, he accepted a job on defense at Hartford, Conn., andstayed there until he was inducted into the military in January1943. Cpl. Maxwell received his diploma from the USA Air Force,Technical School, Lowry Field, Denver, Col. on May 8, 1943, andserved in Scotland, England and France during World War II with the7th Photo Recon Group.
Mr. Maxwell returned to Mississippi and went to work as themanager of the Boston Shoe Store in Hazlehurst. While there, he metthe love of his life, Betty Tillman. They married September 22,1946.
A few years later, they moved to Brookhaven where Mr. Maxwellaccepted a position as the manager of the Boston Shoe Store onRailroad Avenue. Mr. Maxwell opened his own shoe store, MaxwellShoes, in 1964 and was fondly remembered as “the shoe man.” Mr.Maxwell closed his store in 1977 and went to work with Woodmen ofthe World, retiring in 1988. Mr. Maxwell and his wife, Betty, ownedand operated the Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio in Brookhaven from1973 to 2002. During this time he was fondly remembered as “themake up man.”
Mr. Maxwell is well known and highly respected in Brookhaven,having served as alderman and mayor pro-tem from 1972 to 1980. Mr.Maxwell was a former member of the Brookhaven Kiwanis and LincolnCounty Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Maxwell was appointed to theBrookhaven Housing Authority January 1986 and continued to serveuntil his death.
Mr. Maxwell was a devoted son, brother, husband, father,grandfather and great grandfather, and leaves a legacy of hardwork, service to others and love for his Lord. Mr. Maxwell was alifetime deacon at First Baptist Church, Brookhaven, where hetaught Sunday school for many years, sang in the choir, andencouraged those he loved.
Preceding him in death were his parents; his step-mother, EthelWooley Maxwell; his daughter, Nancy Maxwell Heineman; hissons-in-law, Cam Thurman and Mike White; his great granddaughter,Courtney Copeland; and his siblings, Preston Maxwell, Bea Price,Marie Bardwell, Nell Maxwell and Jewel Maxwell.
Survivors are his beloved wife of 64 years, Betty TillmanMaxwell, of Brookhaven; his son, Don Maxwell, of Clinton; hisdaughters, Gale Maxwell White and Jan Maxwell Thurman, both ofBrookhaven; grandchildren Samantha Brooks of Lowell Ark., LanceSmith of Arlington, Tex., Lynn Ford, of Slidell, La., Kristi Bridgeof Brookhaven, Matt White of Memphis, Adam Maxwell of Alexandria,La., David Maxwell of Clinton, Candie Copeland, of Brookhaven, SaraThurman, of Hattiesburg and Anna Thurman of Brookhaven;great-grandchildren Lauren and Zane Brooks of Lowell, Ark., Hannahand Nick Smith of Arlington, Tex., Maxwell, Noelle and Sue HelenFord of Slidell, La., Lillie Belle Bridge of Brookhaven, and EricaCopeland of Brookhaven; his siblings, Willie Richard Maxwell, Jr.,and wife Lois, of Natchez, and Lucky Maxwell Sellers of Brookhaven;brother-in-law Richard N. Jolly, of Charlottesville, S.C.;sisters-in-law Dorothy Tillman, of Brandon, Jayne Tillman, ofRaymond, and Evelyn Hawthorne of Convoe, Tex.; and many nieces andnephews.