Lavon Faye (Maxwell) Dove

Lavon Maxwell Dove
Lavon Fae Smith was born June 4, 1927, in her grandfather’s home, Dr. W.H. Young, to Loren and Flossie (Young) Smith. She died Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017.

Due to the early death of her dad Loren in 1931, and her mother Flossie in 1937, Lavon was raised by an aunt and uncle, Charlie and Hazel (Young) Short of Colony and her grandparents, Charles and Mattie (Shroud) Smith of rural Fredonia. She graduated from Fredonia High School in 1945. She furthered her education by going to Western Union Teletype school in Springfield, Mo., and worked in the Western Union office in Missouri and Olathe.

On Jan. 9, 1946, she married Homer Maxwell in Independence, and after his discharge from the military later that year, they set up housekeeping on a farm north of Fredonia. The bought the same farm from Charles and Tracy (Shaffer) Maxwell in 1959 and farmed it until Homer retired in January 1998. The farm had been in the Shaffer/Maxwell family for 122 years at the time of the sale in 2002.

She was a homemaker and in early years she was active in the community and Wilson County home economics units. She also worked beside Homer on the farm by driving the tractor in fields, running after parts, feeding cattle, etc. They were happily married 53 years at the time of Homer’s death on March 10, 1999.

To this marriage one daughter, Kayle, was born.

On Oct. 12, 2001, she married her high school classmate Paul Dove in Nowata, Okla., and moved into his home across the street from where she had been born years before.

Survivors include her husband Paul; her daughter, Kayle and Ron Howe of Cedar Hill, Texas; grandchildren, Rhonda Howe of Dallas, Texas, and Dustin (Aleshia) Howe of Aledo, Texas; great-grandchildren, Maxwell Howe, Jackson Howe and Finley Howe; stepchildren, Paula Hutton and Richard Dove.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Loren and Flossie Smith; brothers Kenneth Smith and Mark Smith.

Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19, at Farmington Cemetery under the direction of Wickham Family Funeral Home, Fredonia. Memorial contributions ma be made to the Fredonia Flag Fund and may be sent to the funeral home.