August 16, 1938 - July 26, 2023
On July 26, 2023, her sweetheart of 68 years called her home. Maxine Lorraine Kjos was born August 16, 1938, in Hanna, Alberta and died peacefully at home in Fort St. John, surrounded by her family.
Maxine was born into some of the hardest times for prairie families and lived in a two room shack bought for $18.50. Her Dad worked at the mine in Shurness, Alberta while her mom made butter and sold it for 25 cents. When Maxine was eight, they moved to Sundre where at fourteen she started dating the man that would change the trajectory of her life.
Maxine and Bob were married on April 2, 1956, and she was ill equipped to become the wife of a cowboy. But she learned to ride, to cook, to help pack a horse and the next four years were spent travelling on horseback through the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains as they grew their pack string and business leading geology surveys. Marty was born in 1960, followed by in 1962 by Jackie.
Just when she was getting all that figured out, they packed up in 1966 and moved up the Alaska Highway to Toad River, BC to provide her with another totally new and daunting challenge running a cafe, motel and gas station along with the hunting territory. The years at the lodge were tough with a young family, but in 1969, the next chapter began when they homesteaded a beautiful, untouched piece of property across the Toad River. The first summer was spent cooking in a tent, living in a camper, cutting a lot of willows and anxiously awaiting her first brand new home.
Maxine called the years at Toad River the best of her life. She would say she was a housewife, but she was the heart of a family that thankfully grew up with no television, internet and telephone only for essential calls. She was a great partner to Bob writing all the hunting letters, keeping the books and in the later years when the operation was so large, making the 3 hour trip to Fort Nelson three or four times a week to meet hunters. She would always know by the end of the trip home, which hunters needed to be matched with which guides and she seldom got it wrong. She also learned how to haul guides out of some less than savoury locations in Fort Nelson when it was time for them to go to work in the fall!
The next chapter in Maxine’s life was the purchase of what was going to be a seasonal home in Montney, but ended up becoming the home she lived the longest in from 1978 to 2015. Maxine had always been a great sewer and for the first time had the time, space and lots of fabric! She could crank out a cowboy shirt in 2 hours complete with pearl snaps and made many beautiful outfits for Jackie and the granddaughters when they arrived. She initially said she could not understand how someone could cut up perfectly good material then sew it back together, but somewhere along the line, she got the quilting bug and made many beautiful quilts for family and friends.
Another special time for Maxine were the Arizona years in the nineties. They had bought an acreage at Maricopa and while Bob roped, Maxine and her friends made some legendary fabric shopping and lunching trips in the old Lincoln Continental! After they sold in Arizona, Bob and Maxine enjoyed RV travelling and staying closer to home to be with family. In 2015, they sold the farm in Montney and moved to a house in Fort St. John where she enjoyed city life and her beautiful flowers. After Bob’s passing in 2021, she moved to a lovely apartment that she filled with pictures of the love of her life and her family.
Maxine was predeceased by her husband Bob, parents Randall and Lorraine Christopher and brother Jerry. She is lovingly remembered by son Marty (Miriam), daughter Jackie, three grandchildren and four great grandchildren, sisters Wendy (Burt) and Gail and brother Reid. There are also a bunch of cousins out there as her Grandma McBride had 54 grandkids at her passing!
Maxine was also blessed with some great friends who will share stories of her legendary fabric stash, fabulous cinnamon buns and ability to make them feel like they were part of the family.
The family is grateful for the care from the Fort St. John Hospital for her brief stay in the spring, and specifically for the attention of her doctors (Thomson, Van Rensburg, Youssef and Wright) and the caring nurses.
At her request, there will be no service. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that those wishing to do so could donate in her name to the Fort St. John Hospital Foundation or to a cancer foundation of their choice.
