OBITUARY: Maxine M. (Penney) McSweeney, 1918-2005, Mitchell County, Iowa




                          Maxine M. McSweeney

Memorial services for Maxine M. McSweeney, 86, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and
formerly of Osage, Iowa, and Fort Dodge, Iowa, will be held on Saturday,
March 12, 2005 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with inurnment at the Sacred
Heart Catholic Cemetery, both in Osage.

A celebration of her life will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in
Osage, immediately after the services.  Maxine died of heart failure Friday,
February 25, 2005 at the Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly,
Iowa.

Maxine Marie Penney was born near Little Cedar, Mitchell County, Iowa, on
October 4, 1918, the eldest daughter of Clinton Henry (Joe) and Thelma
Lois (McPhail) Penney. She attended Little Cedar Schools, graduating in the
Class of 1936. After briefly attending Iowa State Teachers College, (now the
University of Northern Iowa), she married Robert Francis McSweeney, whom she
had met in the first grade, on November 25, 1936 in Cresco, Iowa.

The couple set up housekeeping in Little Cedar and through the years, worked
on a number of farms in the county. During WWII, along with their only
daughter, Kay, the couple relocated to Bangor, Maine, Portales, New Mexico
and Portland, Oregon.  Following the war, the couple returned to Mitchell
County, settling on a farm north of Little Cedar. They ended farming in 1962,
moving to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where Maxine worked for many years at the
Friendship Haven Retirement Home before retiring in 1984. In 1985, they
moved to Mason City, Iowa, where they lived for 15 years. The couple
returned to Osage in 2000 where they lived until moving to Cedar Falls, Iowa,
in 2003 to be near their daughter. Her husband of 67 years, Robert, passed
away on February 20, 2004.

Maxine moved to Bartels in Waverly in November 2004. Maxine had a great
love of her family and friends. Her door was always open, the coffee always
brewed and the table always full.

Maxine was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Dean and Rex
Penney, a sister, Ruth Penney Arnold and an infant granddaughter.

She is survived by her daughter, Kay McSweeney of Cedar Falls, Iowa and her
grandson, Michael Higgins of Indianapolis, Ind. and many nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were made by the Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home of Cedar
Falls, Iowa.



    Copyright 2005, Mitchell County Press-News   All rights reserved.
    www.mcpress.com -- Posted March 8, 2005