Maxine Pierron

The Heavenly Choir has a new alto! Our sweet and beautiful mother, Maxine Pierron, passed away attended by her family, after a brief illness at home. Mom was 104 years old and a fiercely patriotic first generation Norwegian American. Born to Inez Foster (Rokram) Pigott and Wilfred Lee Pigott in Wichita, KS, she was the youngest of four sisters; and for six and a half years until the birth of her only brother (Robert), she was “the baby." The Pigotts moved to rural Arkansas during the Great Depression and farmed for a year and a half, but left that life for work in the Big City. 

Around that time, Mom said she felt a longing to get closer to God, which she described as the Holy Spirit coming to her. Though very good people, her folks were not church goers. At her request, they allowed her to attend Christian services with various neighbors over the years. She was especially drawn to Catholicism because of the Holy Eucharist.

On Kansas City’s North East side not far from the railroad tracks, their neighbors over the backyard fence were the Pierrons, and Maxine would watch John Pierron going back and forth from the chicken coup. Eventually they met, and became high school sweethearts. She loved her parents and had learned their Wisconsin work ethic plus her father’s concern for people in need. She recounted how he would always feed the hoboes that came to their back door, and give them his spare change. Throughout her life, she could not eat a meal if someone present with her was not also eating: she would divide her plate in half and insist they take a share.

At nineteen, Mom was baptized in the Catholic Church and married John, but because her father disapproved of Catholics she was estranged from her family for a time. During WWII John finished college and started medical school. Mom waited tables at Fred Harvey’s Union Station Restaurant, supporting his education. After Dad’s graduation, he was drafted into the army. They lived at Dougway Proving Grounds in Utah for a time, and started their family there. After the war they moved to Fairway, Ks and the family continued to grow. Tragically, in a period of a few months, their first two children, and John’s mother, died. Over the following seven years, six children were born. 

The family moved to Brookside in 1953 and joined St. Peter parish, where the children went to school and where Mom was a parishioner and regularly attended Mass until she died. It is said that the messenger is the message, and Maxine lived her Christian life intentionally and in practical ways: her actions proclaimed God’s love. Among other treasures in her shoeboxes of keepsakes are notes she wrote to herself about God’s gifts to her and her calling to share them with others. She seemed always to be helping somebody. Though busy raising six children (or, as she sometimes said, “seven including your father”), she joined the Legion of Mary, welcoming and encouraging interested neighbors to join the Church. 

Our mother is remembered by many as always laughing and singing. As was the custom with moms in those days, she was a loving presence in the lives of many neighborhood children, mostly friends of her own brood. Often she transported eight or so children to Niagara Pool or Fairyland amusement park; she was a den mother to the cub scouts; and she was a longtime member of the (then) Altar Society at Church. Over the years she earned her Associates degree in early childhood education, and taught in the Little Saints Montessori school; and took the first wave of grandchildren through their numbers and ABC’s. She tutored Border Star students; and helped at least one family send their son to college. Even later in life, mom successively served as companion caretaker to two older women and she was remembered yearly with a Christmas gift by one family up until the time of her death. Although our mother lost parts of her memory in old age, she retained her wonderful personality, sense of humor, appreciation for God’s beautiful creation, and her devoted love for each of her children. We found this note in her printed handwriting: something she wrote for and read at her own dear mother’s funeral.

“Each of us is placed here on Earth and given Life for some grand purpose. Each has been given a talent. It was put in us to develop and through the development to bless humanity. That is the purpose behind each of our lives. That purpose can be accomplished only by that individual. With this in mind let us bear each other’s burdens, share each other’s joy, love one another and bring each other home.”

Visitation will be held on Friday, October 11, 2024 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm at Muehlebach Funeral Care, 6800 Troost Ave., Kansas City, MO 64131. Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Saturday, October 12, 2024 starting at 11:00am (not 11:30 as announced prior) at St. Peter’s Parish, 815 E. Meyer Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64131: and live streamed at https://www.youtube.com/@StPetersKC/streams. 

Waiting in Heaven to greet her, bask in her sweet smile, and hear her beautiful laugh were her beloved husband, Dr. John Pierron; parents Inez Foster (nee Rokram) and Wilfred Lee Pigott; sisters Dorothy (Les) Brooner, Evelyn (Walter) Heintz, Myrtle (Chester) Studt and brother Robert Pigott. Left behind to grieve and to sing, dance, and give thanks for her long life pouring out God’s love to this world are her children Joanne Pierron Sunshower, M. Div. and Peter Pierron (Blanca) KC MO; Mark H. (Deidre) Pierron, Sunnyvale CA; Robert Pierron (Jan), Buena Vista CO; William (Vicki) Pierron, Lenexa KS; and Dr. Paul Pierron, of the home. Also left behind are sister-in-law Pene Pigott, eleven grandchildren and six great grandchildren plus a bunch of wonderful nieces and nephews, friends, godchildren, and neighbors. For those who wish to honor Maxine’s memory, you might consider voting in every election, as she did: or share some of her kind ways with others, including “the difficult ones”. In lieu of flowers, a donation could be made to the Veterans Community Project (communities of services and tiny homes for homeless veterans), or a charity that is important to you. Special thanks to the home care workers who helped us these past two years, especially during Mom’s sudden decline.