Maxine Odom, passed away on Tuesday June 23, 2015 at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, CA.
Born in 1922 in Charleston.West Virginia. Maxine was the oldest daughter of Gladys Figgatt Meador and had two sisters Marcella, Marvis and brother Lewis Jr. The family moved briefly to Richmond and Alexandria, Virginia area while Maxine was young. After graduating from Charleston High School she enrolled in Charleston Business school and was employed by E I DuPont company. Shortly thereafter Maxine joined the WACS, and completed basic training in Iowa, and then was stationed at Mather Air force Base in California.
After World War II, Maxine returned briefly to E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company before deciding to take a position in civil service working at Haneda Air Force Base in Tokyo, Japan. She traveled on the U.S.A.T. General W.G. Haan from New York- the first ship to sail from the US to Japan after WWII- traveling through the Panama Canal and stopping at Hawaii. Maxine had joined the first group of hundreds of teachers, clerical staff, and officers in supporting the reconstruction of Japan, where she worked for the general in charge of reconstruction and acquired her love of all things Japanese. She collected block prints, paintings, jewelry, china and furniture which would grace her homes for many years. While in Japan she married her first husband, Dick Deane, and in 1948 had her first child Richard.
Maxine moved back to Virginia after Dick was transferred to the Pentagon, and in 1955 Pamela, the first of Maxine’s two daughters, was born. Dick later took a job at Lockheed Aerospace in California. Maxine volunteered at her children’s schools, led the local Girl Scout troop, and gave the best birthday parties on the planet.
After her divorce in the 1970’s, Maxine went back to school found a job with Perkin-Elmer.   She was involved with the Hubble Space Telescope. There she met Roy Odom, her charismatic and much-loved future husband. After retirement, Roy and Maxine sold their home in San Jose, purchasing a beautiful home in Rossmoor California. They lived there happily with their lab Bo, visited frequently by family. Maxine is survived by three children, 9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren, most of whom reside in California.
Maxine enjoyed cooking, sewing, gardening, dancing and playing bridge. She was kind-hearted and witty and approached every situation with an inherent grace.
Everyone who met Maxine loved her. She said that her favorite place to live had been Virginia. She loved the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the hospitality and that Southern drawl. She loved her French fries, chocolate ice cream, coffee with cream and BLTs. Maxine was respected, admired and loved by so many, and her warmth, compassion, kindness and generosity touched all who knew her. Our family will treasure her warmth and compassion and the abundant love she had for them, who she always maintained as her top priority. Her grandchildren will treasure their college educations made largely debt free by their grandmother’s generosity.
Maxine gave us childhoods filled with joy and love. But above all, we thank our mother and grandmother for loving us unconditionally. Your children and grandchildren have never known a day apart from your love, and that is a priceless gift. YOU were a gift to each and every one of us. You will be dearly missed.