Maxine McDowell
Maxine C. McDowell, 90, of Ooltewah, Tennessee, died on Friday, May 15, 2015.
She was born Maxine Mae Chaney in 1924 in Louisville, Ky. She completed her master’s degree in special education in 1965. Maxine subsequently dedicated decades as a special education teacher in Chattanooga City Schools with a very special edge having been the mother of a mentally challenged child herself.
As soon as the kids were off to college, there was finally time for Maxine’s love of art and painting to resurface. She loves landscapes, beautiful fall scenes and colorful flowers. Later years and early in retirement she was off to see the world, with her husband, logging no less than 50 trips in the U.S. and abroad between the years 1977 thru 1996. Maxine documented these trips meticulously with photo albums and later painted many of the landscapes and sites they visited.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Bernice Chaney of Louisville, KY, as well as her beloved husband of 50 years, Dr. H. G. “Sandy” McDowell.
Survivors include her children, Michael Kim McDowell (Teresa), of Maryville, TN; Karen Downer, of Chattanooga, TN; Melinda McDowell, of Greeneville, TN; one granddaughter, Miranda Downer, of Raleigh, NC; one niece, Linda Miller, of Newcomerstown, OH; and one nephew, James McDowell, of North Canton, OH.
A graveside service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20, at the Chattanooga National Cemetery with Chaplain Don Sapp officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Orange Grove Center of Chattanooga at www.orangegrovecenter.com.
Please share your thoughts and memories online at www.ChattanoogaEastBrainerdChapel.com.
Arrangements are by Chattanooga Funeral Home, East Brainerd Chapel, 8214 East Brainerd Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421.