Maxine Reeves Marshall

On Sunday, July 5, 2020, beloved, fun-loving & adventurous mother, Maxine Reeves Marshall, 72, of Sunrise, passed away. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jon Kristian Marshall, and her parents, McNally and Hattie Louise Reeves of Greenville, SC. She is survived by three children, Jennifer Jaikaran, Kelly Grant, and Sean Marshall; their spouses Troy, Michael, and Natalie; three grandchildren, Marshall Grant, Maya Jaikaran, and Charlotte Grant; as well as her five sisters, Gertie, Janie, Peggie, Dale, and Terrie. A private service will be held for the family at T.M. Ralph Funeral Home in Sunrise, FL on Sunday, July 12, 2020.

Maxine Reeves Marshall was born in Greenville, SC on April 7, 1948 and graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1965. She went on to graduate from the University of South Carolina with a degree in journalism. Later, she obtained a Masters degree in special education.  She taught school in South Carolina until her 1975 marriage to Jon Kristian Marshall of Fort Lauderdale, FL.  When she moved to Florida she taught in the Broward County school system until having her first child in 1977.  She resumed teaching in Broward County when her children grew older and then retired in 2012.

Maxine lived life to its fullest and was always ready for an adventure.  She loved throwing big Christmas parties where anyone and everyone she knew was invited. She had more than her fair share of trials and tribulations, such as a devastating car accident in 1968 that left her with life-long repercussions of a traumatic brain injury, but Maxine never let it keep her down. She always had a ready smile and a home filled with laughter.

In her early forties, she became a very involved community activist. She spent a lot of time at the Sunrise City Hall having conversations with local developers. Maxine was influential in providing a resident’s voice as the city developed from a sleepy suburb into a bustling commercial shopping destination. 

Well before environmentalism was trending, she spearheaded a neighborhood environmental children’s club (Environmental Children Helping Out - the E.C.H.O. Club). The E.C.H.O. Club began recycling collection efforts in the neighborhood out of the back of Maxine’s station wagon. They also performed puppet shows that provided environmental education at the local Earthday Fair. 

When her children were youngsters, Maxine enjoyed travelling in road-trips cross country with them and her husband visiting family, national parks, and museums. Maxine was thrilled to travel with her grown children all around the beautiful country of Ireland in 2018 for her 70th birthday. She went on a big road trip through the southeast with her grandchildren in the summer of 2019 visiting relatives and enjoying nature in the north Georgia mountains. Her final travelling adventure was an amazing big family trip to Mexico City in September 2019 to celebrate her son’s wedding with her new daughter-in-law’s family.  Maxine always pushed herself to the limit during these excursions, including climbing steep mountains on nature and historical hikes even in her seventies.

Maxine was a painter of portraits & landscapes, a writer of poems, a community activist, a world traveler, a loyal wife and friend, a fierce & vocal protector of her children and grandchildren. She liked her Irish scones warm, her soups smoking hot, and her tea ice-cold & sweet. She loved fairy tales, murder mysteries, historical fiction TV shows, and listening to music. Her grandchildren called her GrandieMax and when she put them to bed, she would recite, “Good night, sleep tight, to wake up bright, in the morning light, to do what’s right, with all your might. Good night.”