Watch Maxine's Tribute Video Here

A Funeral Mass for Maxine Stanton, age 75, of Chambers, will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, January 8, 2022, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in O'Neill. The service will be lived-streamed at www.holtboydcatholic.org/stanton Burial will be at 1:30 pm Saturday, in the Chambers Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday, January 7, 2022, from 5-7 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. Rosary at Biglin's Mortuary in O'Neill. Maxine passed away Thursday, December 30, 2021 at her home. Memorials may be directed to the family for future designation. Arrangements are entrusted to Biglin's Mortuary in O'Neill.

Mary Maxine Baker was born on November 15, 1946, to Ivan and Mary Jane (Moler) Baker of Atkinson. She attended St. Joseph's School in Atkinson, the class of 1965. She would later graduate from Northeast Community College in Norfolk with a business degree in 1994. She married Kenneth Lidgett of Chambers in 1964. Maxine and Ken welcomed six children while married: Lori, Timothy, Lisa, Joan, Eric and Kari.

Maxine was a worker and a doer at heart. She held a number of jobs in the Chambers area throughout her life, including owning her own carpet cleaning business, baling hay, driving a fertilizer truck for Harley Feed & Fertilizer, working at the Chambers Corner and in the office at Foxley Cattle Company. She worked at NorthStar Services in O'Neill for more than 20 years, retiring in 2018.

Maxine married the love of her life, Bruce Stanton, in 1993. They shared a love of raising their dogs over the years: Frazier, Chelsea, Déjà Vu, Tabor and Maggie Mae. Maxine had many hobbies. She loved to knit and crochet afghans, hats, scarves and shawls which her family and friends reaped the benefits of her beautiful creations. She loved to cook (no one will quite know the special ingredients in her amazing potato salad) and for years, she enjoyed canning and making chokecherry jelly. She always 'had a vision' for things—be it refinishing furniture, in-home construction or landscaping.

Maxine was an avid reader of history and required daily doses of political news. Having met President Bill Clinton twice, along with his sending her personal well-wishes for her 60th birthday, only fueled her love of politics throughout her life. Her opportunity to rub shoulders with former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, television journalist, author and playwright Janet Langhart Cohen, former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, CNN host Fareed Zakaria and criminal defense attorney F. Lee Bailey added to her personal highlights. One of Maxine's best qualities was her ability to strike up a conversation with anyone. Her warmth, sense of humor and love of laughter was infectious to everyone she encountered.

Maxine is survived by her husband of 28 years, Bruce Stanton of Chambers; her daughter Joan Jakoubek of Council Bluffs, Iowa; her son Eric (Kim) Lidgett of Overland Park, Kan.; her daughter Kari (Paul) Webber of Omaha; her 10 grandchildren: two great-grandchildren; her two sisters, Jean Craig of Omaha, Betty Baker of Rockford, Ill.; her aunt, LaVonna Appleby of O'Neill; several nieces and nephews.

Maxine was preceded in death by her father, Ivan; mother, Mary Jane; two daughters, Lori Lidgett in 1969 and Lisa Tomjack in 2016; and son, Timothy Lidgett in 1967; two brothers, Steve Baker and Dan Baker.