- Date Of Birth: March 12, 1926
- Date Of Death: January 28, 2015
- State: Indiana
Blanche Maxine Kidwell Applegate, known as Maxine or Mackie, died Wednesday, January 28, following a long illness.
Born the second of four children, March 12, 1926, to Otis Eugene and Katie (Wise) Kidwell in Stamping Ground, Kentucky, Maxine moved to Indiana when she was three weeks old. Maxine was a 1945 graduate of Anderson High School where she was editor of the X-Ray.
She attended the University of Kentucky until she married her World War II sailor boyfriend, Joseph Applegate Jr. She also attended Anderson College and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ball State University. She was a 5th grade teacher in Anderson for more than 33 years at Seventh Street and Southview Schools. She was active for many years, including working as a Pink Lady in the gift shop at then St. John’s Hospital, teaching Sunday School at East Lynn Christian Church, in a service sorority, and working on her high school reunions. She helped create the Long Far View, a comprehensive AHS yearbook.
She is survived by her four children: Terri Lynn (John) Johnson of Franklin, Laura (Rex) Richards of Elkhart, Kent (Chris) Applegate of Noblesville, and Brian Scott Applegate of Anderson. She is also survived by three granddaughters, Stephanie Lloyd (Jamie Wilson) of Elkhart, Jessica (Steve) Hatfield of Alexandria, and Miki Blankenship (Heath Shoemaker) of Fort Pierce, Florida.
Also surviving are six great-grandchildren, Sydney Madison Mais of Elkhart, Riley Mary Grace Lloyd-Reitz of Edwardsburg, Michigan, Christian Michael, Taylor Renee, and Kenneth Hatfield of Alexandria, and Samuel Ryder Shoemaker of Fort Pierce, Florida.
She is also survived by her brother, Rev. R.J. Kidwell of Erlanger, Kentucky, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and good friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Eugene, and her sister, Barbara Glass Browning. While she and Joe divorced, they remained friends, and he preceded her in death in December 2013.
