A graduate of the College of Wooster, Maxine earned a master's degree from Ohio State University and a PhD from Michigan State University in Communications. She was an active member of her college debate teams winning several tournaments, oratory contests and awards during her career as both a participant and coach. She was also a member of Phi Kappa Phi (academic), Delta Sigma Rho (forensics) and Alpha Zeta (agriculture) honor societies.
Maxine taught high school in Dover, Ohio before joining the faculties at Wooster, Bowling Green State University and eventually MSU in 1976. As a professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Director of Outreach Communications at MSU, she successfully led a team whose mission was to help the public access the knowledge resources of the university. While she authored many publications and conducted workshops on communication, organizational development, team building and time management, Maxine is best known for being a role model and mentor to students and faculty alike.
Maxine, along with her husband Jake and six other families founded the first Montessori School in mid-Michigan in 1968. After retiring in 1996, Maxine authored six non-fiction books including "Thirty Years and Counting," a history of the Okemos Montessori Radmoor School. The school will be dedicating a new Ferris Elementary Wing to the couple this fall.
Although not as steamy as the romance novels she was known to read, Maxine in her late 80s authored "Let Love Happen" (2017) and later "Give Love a Chance" (2018). The fictional novels blended faith, the local area, MSU and Montessori education – parts of her life that were extremely important to her.
Maxine was active in the local community. She served on the boards of the Zonta Club of East Lansing, Samaritan Counseling Center of Mid-Michigan, P.E.O. Chapter BB, Council of Elders of The Peoples Church, the University Club of MSU and other educational organizations.
At her core, Maxine was a "people person" who loved to interact and was genuinely interested in everyone's backstory and dreams for the future. She often entered a roomful of strangers and exited with new-found friends. She enjoyed traveling domestically and abroad, and even visited former exchange students and their families in their home countries. Although Maxine was a nurturing and kind soul, she did not refrain from expressing her displeasure with referees who dared to make calls against her beloved Spartan basketball and football teams. She and Jake held season tickets to both sports for decades and loyally followed the teams to bowl games, Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
Maxine was recently preceded in death by her husband of 58 years John N. "Jake" Ferris and is survived by her sons Bill and John (Kathleen) and grandchildren Jack and Lola Ferris. Her memorial service will be held at The Peoples Church in East Lansing at 4 PM on Sunday, May 1 with a reception to follow. In lieu of floral arrangements, donations should be sent to the Ferris Debate Team Spartan Cornerstone Scholarship at MSU or the Ferris Family Endowment at Montessori Radmoor in Okemos.
Donation Links:
Montessori Ferris Elementary Wing (Okemos, Michigan)
www.montessoriradmoor.org/current-parents/giving/
Ferris Debate Team Spartan Cornerstone Scholarship Challenge (AFF0032)
[Type in “Ferris Debate” to find specific Endowment]
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