WILLOW PARK - Maxine Harris Alford, 93, departed this Earth and was welcomed into the Lord's arms on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017.

Service is 10 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 28, at First Baptist Church of Willow Park. Burial will be in Memory Gardens of the Valley, Weatherford. Visitation is 6-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at White's Funeral Home, 130 Houston Ave., Weatherford.

Maxine was born Oct. 27, 1923, in Breckenridge, Texas. She grew up in Houston, Pearland, Alvin, Matador, Wichita Falls and Mineral Wells, and Claremore, Okla., graduating in 1940 from Mineral Wells High School. That same year, she married Charles Knowles Alford and they had three children - Charles Jr., Wayne and Jasmine. Following her husband's death in 1986, she married Robert Alford.

In addition to raising her children, Maxine worked as a real estate agent, notary public and as a salesperson for Avon and World Book Encyclopedia. She loved the outdoors and particularly enjoyed gardening.

Maxine was a woman of loyalty, determination and strength. These traits were perhaps best epitomized when her husbands suffered health issues and became invalids. Despite doctors and others encouraging her to place them in nursing homes, Maxine selflessly insisted on keeping them at home and caring for them herself. Her strength, both mental and physical, was evident as she provided 24-hour care to men over twice her size and weight. In her final years, her fierce independence never waned, as she insisted on living self-sufficiently in her home even as her own health began to waver. She was simply awe-inspiring.

Mrs. Alford is survived by children, Charles Knowles Alford Jr. and Jasmine Walston (nee Cymbe Alford); grandchildren, Kathy, Karen, Scott, Craig, Mark, Mike, and David Alford, Kristi Barto, Larry and Agatha Walston, Terra Walston Joseph, Jessica Hawkins and Cassie Broaddus; great-grandchildren, Camden, Preston, Riley, Cade, Reese, Maxine, Eva, and Conner Alford, Michael and Kaitlyn Barto, Ronald Sikes, Blake Miller, Felicity, Randy, and Xander Hawkins, Priscilla Walston-Hunt, Cooper Brim, Olivia, Eddy, and Leo Joseph; great-great-granddaughter, Brooklyn Alford; and siblings, Willis Harris and Doris Hurd.

She was preceded in death by husbands, Charles Knowles Alford Sr., and Robert Burns Alford; son, Wayne Alford; and siblings, Eulalia Tyner and Jack, Bob, and Kenneth Harris.

White's Funeral Home