Maxine Loraine Matthews, 91, of Elkader, Iowa, formerly of Cedar Rapids, died Friday, August 4, 2017, at the Elkader Care Center. Memorial Service: 2:00 p.m. Saturday, August 12, 2017, at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Cedar Rapids. Burial: Linwood Cemetery, Cedar Rapids.
Maxine was born May 23, 1926, to Leslie L. and Eva (McClarrinon) Welch. She graduated from Arlington Public High School and Gates Business College in Waterloo, Iowa. Maxine was joined in marriage to Raymond A. Lower on February 9, 1947. To this union, 3 children were born; twin daughters, Susan and Sally; and a son, Greg. They later divorced. On May 2, 1977, she married Lawrence “Red” Matthews at the Chapel of the Fountain in Las Vegas, Nevada. Maxine did secretarial work at the Arlington Bank, McKinley Junior High School and the Teamsters Credit Union Center. After retiring, she enjoyed traveling with Larry and her Saturday morning coffee talks with her credit union friends. She loved trying new restaurants in Cedar Rapids on the weekends with Larry, Steve and the gang.
Maxine is survived by her twin daughters, Susan Lower of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sally Bowman of Indianola, Iowa; son, Greg (Becky) Lower of Volga, Iowa; step-son, Steve (Rijuan) McDaniel; step-daughter, Wanda (Ron) Detert; grandchildren, Jeremy Bowman, Jacob Lower and Kaitlin Lower; step-grandchildren, Angela Ebel, Sheryl Wherling, Huihui Huang, Jim Morgan, Rachel Ozburne and Heather Morgan.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Lawrence “Red” Matthews; and brother, Gerald Welch; special friends, Du Du and Lu Lu Griffeon.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Maxine Loraine Matthews, please visit our flower store.