Mrs. Rosella Maxine Beckman, age 90, of Cedartown, GA, passed away on Friday, March 17, 2023. Mrs. Beckman was born on October 20, 1932 in Winona, Minnesota, to her parents Lorenz and Violet Weinmann.

Maxine was beautiful, creative, kind, independent, full of wonder and wanderlust.
As a young girl, she acted with classmates on a radio show, walked train tracks picking up coal that fell off the train with her siblings to take home, and learned to play piano and violin. Once, she entered a beauty pageant and won first runner up.

In the picture of her and the other girls on the parade float, she is wearing a fur coat which she said they had to give back once the parade was over. She graduated from Winona High School in 1950, and then went to beauty school because her sister had originally paid to attend, but decided not to go.

Maxine attended college working as a telephone operator, and worked at the Cherry Hump Factory. She took her coffee with a little bit of milk in it, but thought that sugar was too sweet.

Mrs. Beckman was a fan of eating samples from grocery stores and considered them a full meal. She would save her money all week to purchase a salad at the week’s end. Desiring to travel, Maxine would buy a round trip bus ticket to someplace new and call her parents to let them know she was safe and when she would return.

While in college majoring in Art Education, she met John Blase Beckman. She was the date of one of his fraternity brothers, and John asked if he could ask her out. After John graduated from college he got a job at Bell Aircraft in Buffalo, New York. Maxine insisted that John never officially asked her to marry him, but rather that John started talking to her mother Violet about his plans, at which point they began to arrange wedding plans. John did not remember it this way.

Maxine married John at St. Edwards Parish in Lowell, Indiana on March 6, 1954. The day of the wedding, true to her independent nature, she cut “all her hair off” and did not let John know until she was walking down the aisle.

Their life together took them on many different adventures, new jobs, different states, and parenthood. Maxine worked at Winona Art Center, Asco Company, the Flowerama, and was a member of the Dakota County Art Group.

She and her husband John moved to Polk County during the Christmas season of 1973. Maxine started investing her time and talents in the community by serving in her parish St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church and at the Samaritan House.

Maxine loved to shop, get a good deal, and would often take her grandchildren out for a Wendy’s Frosty and French Fries. One would often see her walk around the house while singing her favorite songs like “The Dipsy Doodle.” You never had to knock when entering the Beckman home; everyone was welcome and their home was frequently full. There was always conversation ringing with laughter around the dining table that would linger well into the night. Her legacy will continue to live on in those who loved her dearly.

Maxine was preceded in death by her loving husband John Beckman; and her siblings Oest Weinmann, Betty VanGilder, Shirley Newell, Vernon Weinmann, Leo Weinmann, and Robert Weinmann.

Mrs. Beckman is survived by her loving family, Mel and Pat Beckman, Bruce and Debi Beckman, Renee Baldwin, Sharon Hamilton, David and Robbyn Beckman, Doug and Gail Beckman, Diane and Todd Britt, and Johnny and Michelle Beckman; her grandchildren, Keith Beckman, Ellen and Jay Torres, Georgia Beckman, Micky and Ale Beckman, Alison and Brandon East, Brian and Stephanie Beckman, T.J. and Amber Beckman, Carla and Matt Clark, Joshua Baldwin, Corey Hamilton, Kyle and Kayla Hamilton, Bradley and Ashley Beckman, Andrew and Dawn Beckman, Zach and Bridgette Roberson, Emily and Jimmy Wilson, Jami and Scot Pierson, Katie and Paul Manhas, Jessica and Carlos Barrera, Blake Beckman, Julie Beckman, Seth Beckman, and Adam Beckman; her great grandchildren, Tabitha, Ema, Maya, Logan, Dustin, Trent and Madison, Solomon, Maeve, Wren, Audrey, Noah, Shyenne, Hudson, Sydney, Blaise, Zach, Jr., Abel, Parker, Greyson, Olivia, Tyus, Elijah, Estevanna, Eric, Elaina, Madison and Chelsie.

In accordance with her wishes, Mrs. Beckman was cremated. Private Family Funeral Mass will be said from St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church with Father Stack officiating.

The Beckman family respectfully requests that flowers please be omitted, and memorial contributions be made to: The Samaritan House, 302 Wissahickon Ave., Cedartown, Georgia.

The Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Mrs. Rosella Beckman.