Richard Maxwell

Richard L. Maxwell, 86, of Frederick, passed from this life on Tuesday, December 31, 2024 at his home. 

Though Richard was born on July 24, 1938, in Sayre, PA, to the late Lawrence and Francis (Deming) Maxwell, he grew up in the Buffalo, NY area. He attended Maryvale High School located in Cheektowaga, NY, graduating in 1955. He joined the Air Force after high school and became an avionics technician. He was stationed in McGhee Tyson Air Force Base, near Knoxville, TN, where he met his soon-to-be wife of 68 years, Barbara Jean Richesin. The couple remained in the Knoxville area where Richard received his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee. He then went on to earn a master’s in electrical engineering from Penn State. During the early marriage years from 1963 to 1965 he was employed by General Dynamics then went on to work for General Electric until 1970. Eventually, in 1993, after twenty-three years of employment, he retired from Hewlett Packard. 

In 1976, after living in the Bryn Mawr, PA area, he moved his family to Maryland where they eventually built a home in Myersville. Richard was the general contractor for this home and did all of the electrical and plumbing work himself. Richard and Barbara raised both of their boys in this home where they were able to attend the nearby Middletown High School. He and his extended family vacationed at least once a year in the Thousand Islands area where pike and “muskie” fishing was the primary activity for the men in the family. There is a veteran memorial park located in the Clayton, NY part of the thousand islands area that displays Richard and several other veteran Maxwell family members. 

Richard loved the art of conversation and was active in many organizations in the community of Myersville area, including the Lions Club, and Little League baseball coaching. He was also a Scoutmaster for BSA where he led a crew of Scouts on a high altitude 100 mile backpacking trek through the Philmont Ranch in New Mexico. His hobbies included, fishing, reading, traveling and hiking and was quite the history buff.

He will be missed by his wife, Barbara, his son, Terry Maxwell, and the late Suzanne Ottinger, and her children, Claire Coffey, Sabrina Barbe and her husband, Travis; and his son, Mark Maxwell. 

Richard was preceded in death by his brother, Elvin Maxwell. 

Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at Stauffer Funeral Homes, 40 Fulton Avenue in Walkersville, MD. Rev. Tim May will officiate.