Mary "Hap" Maddox

Urbandale

Mary “Hap” Maddox, 87, passed away Tuesday, August 7, 2012. Memorial Services will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday at McLaren’s Chapel with inurnment at Resthaven Mausoleum. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at McLaren’s Chapel.

Hap was born Mary Edward Fuge August 30, 1924 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was named after her mother and father, the latter of whom had passed away four months before her birth. It wasn’t long before her oldest sister, Lael, started calling her “Happy Hi” because of her perpetually smiling face. That eventually was shortened to Hap and stuck with her throughout her life, as did her smiling face.

Hap was the youngest of three daughters. Margaret was the middle daughter. Their mother, Mary, worked as a social worker to provide for her daughters, raising them on her own to adulthood. Upon graduation from high school, Hap trained as a secretary, fairly common in those days. She worked in that capacity in Minneapolis until her marriage.

While visiting a cousin in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1943, she met a young Army Air Corps cadet, Robert Maddox, Jr., who was studying at the University of North Dakota in preparation for his service in World War II. Robert wooed Hap and eventually persuaded her to marry him with his hard sell---he was a born salesman even then. They were married March 14, 1944 in Minneapolis.

Children are Candace or “Candy” Trogolo, who lives with her husband, Jim in Battlefield, Missouri, Melanie Balzer, who lives in the Chicago area with her husband, John, and Bob, who, along with his wife, LaRue, shares his time between Incline Village, NV and Des Moines. Grandchildren are Gretchen Balzer-Moylan (Mike) of Milwaukee, WI, Erica (Balzer) Higgins (Chris) of Houston, TX, Stephanie Maddox of Mason City, Iowa, Cullen Powers of West Des Moines, and Evan Powers of Bettendorf, IA. The joy of Hap’s life was her only great-grandchild, Caroline Maddox Moylan.

Along the way, Bob and Hap were faced with the biggest challenge of their lives when their eldest child, Candy, came down with a particularly severe case of polio at the age of four, requiring two years of hospitalization during the time Bob was starting up his business down in Des Moines. As the best treatment for Candy was up in Minneapolis, this defined their lives for an extended period of time. Hap somehow managed to make an incredibly difficult time in the family’s life far less so by her positive spirit and “you can do it” attitude with Candy.

Hap volunteered throughout most of her adult life, first at Smouse School, where Candy attended, helping out at Melanie and Bob’s schools where needed, and later at Iowa Methodist Hospital with the Blank Children's Hospital Guild in the surgical lounge. She was the perfect distraction on the job there, with her sunny personality, updating families as to how their loved ones were doing during surgeries. She adored this work, as medicine and being around it were a keen interest throughout her life.

Hap was a wonderful homemaker throughout her marriage. A better cook and hostess would be hard to find. She was the perfect partner to Bob, helping him entertain business clients as his business was growing as well as manning the homefront while he was away entertaining clients. She loved wrapping Christmas gifts intricately, showing her artistic side. She was excellent at needlepoint and knitting, creating many sweaters for her granddaughters, which will now be worn by Caroline.

Working at the election polls was a favorite thing to do. Hap was able to see friends and neighbors, but it also gave her an endless supply of money if you were to ask her! Anytime that Bob asked her where she was coming up with all the money she was spending on her catalogs, she always said she’d “earned it at the polls”!

Hap loved playing games, but especially cards, bridge and gin rummy, in particular. She was playing the latter until two weeks prior to her death and WINNING soundly. She always enjoyed going to the Iowa State Fair with Bob and the Varied Industries Building was a favorite. She headed straight to the honeybees to see how quickly she could find the queen bee. She also loved the butter cow there. Hap adored clouds and would talk about her “Minnesota sky”, referring to the billowy clouds that would form above the lakes there. She loved Broadway musicals and shared that love with her children. Above all, she loved University of Iowa football. Hap and Bob started buying season tickets in the early 1950’s and didn’t stop attending the games until the 1990’s. After that time, they continued to watch them religiously on television. Once a Hawkeye, always a Hawkeye!

Hap, being a native Minnesotan, loved returning there each summer with Bob to Madden’s Lodge on Gull Lake near Brainerd and did so for over 40 years, making lifelong friends and imbuing that love in all three of their children. She was a member of P.E.O., the Red Hat Society, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Des Moines Golf and Country Club, and the Moorings Country Club in Naples, FL.

Hap and Bob built their home in Des Moines in 1955 and lived there for fifty years before finally selling it to move to Deerfield in Urbandale. It was a difficult decision, but one done out of love and concern for their children. They have enjoyed Deerfield and all the new friends they have made there. It was there that Hap died of cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Hap was widely known and widely loved. During her recent illness, she was visited by her many family and friends. She was a woman of extraordinary compassion and love, possessing a quick wit, very infectious laugh, and beautiful smile.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Iowa Health Hospice or the Deerfield Foundation.

Hap's request was that she not be mourned but that she be remembered with love and laughter, as that was how she lived her life.