Ann Jane Maxwell

Ann Jane Shaw Maxwell Graveside services for Ann Jane Shaw Maxwell, 102, will be March 28, 2018, at 11 a.m. at Greenlawn Memorial Cemetery in Natchez, under the direction of Young's Funeral Home. She died March 22 at her residence in Monroe. Mrs. Maxwell married Stanley Meserve Maxwell in 1937 and they lived on Manila Plantation, Lake St. John, where he was engaged in farming. She is the daughter of the late Frances Engle Shaw and the late Edward Driscoll Shaw, born in Dubach on September 7, 1915. She grew up in Bastrop and was a graduate of Bastrop High School. Her education degree is from LSU, where she was a member of Kappa Delta fraternity. Mrs. Maxwell’s first teaching position was in Wisner. Mr. Maxwell liked to say she chose to marry him rather than continue teaching school. He added that their first home was a log cabin without running water; this meant she had to wash their dishes from the end of the pier on the lake. In the early years of the Maxwells’ marriage, her transportation was a Tennessee walking horse named Hope. Among her experiences in the years surrounding World War II and its shortages was teaching women on the farm to make mattresses out of ticking material and cotton samples. Ever the resourceful woman, Mrs. Maxwell solved the problem of her husband’s habit of going into the fields in his “white linen Sunday suit” and getting it muddy. One day she decided to cut up the suit and make baby clothes for her daughter - no more linen suit to scrub. Mrs. Maxwell was known for her gourmet cooking - beef tongue and rare roasts were favorites of family and friends. Visitors left her house with sacks of fresh vegetables from her abundant garden. She also was an accomplished duplicate bridge player. Episcopal churches in Waterproof and St. Joseph benefited from her creativity in flower arranging. She always chose garden flowers and seasonal foliage to express nature’s bounty. Cotton stalks from area farmers and wild flowers were among her favorite materials for fall arrangements. Preceding her in death are her parents, husband, and brother, E.D. Shaw of Monroe. She is survived by her daughters Frances Maxwell Cox of Monroe and Susan Shaw Maxwell of New Orleans and Lake St. John; granddaughter Ann Jane Draper of Dallas; grandson Max Cox of Monroe; great-grandchildren Campbell Draper and Mary Maxwell Draper of Dallas; William Cox, Avery Cox and Iris Cox, all of Monroe; niece Lil Shaw Lowenbaum of Dallas; and nephew Bo Shaw of Monroe. Memorials may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital; Christ Church of St. Joseph; Chennault Aviation and Military Museum, Monroe; or charity of one’s choice. No flowers, please.

Ann Jane Maxwell

September 7, 1915 - March 22, 2018