Ellen "Maxine" Van Valkenburg, 93, went to be with the Lord Thursday, December 12 ^th following several weeks of declining health.  She was in her home with her sons.

Maxine was the daughter of David Alton Phillips and Avis Marie Mesic Phillips who farmed north east of Burlington.  She attended Martindale Elementary School, one of several one-room country schools in the area, and graduated from Burlington High School in 1943. During her senior year in High School she worked for the Clerk of Court and was involved in tire rationing for the World War II effort. Following High School, Maxine attended Strickler's Business College in Topeka and then worked for Montgomery Ward.

She married Leon "Rowe" Van Valkenburg of Long Prairie, Minnesota on May 21 ^, 1944.  They farmed near her parents until 1963.  During that time, Maxine was active in the Republican Party, Bean Grange, and a parent leader in the Stringtown Bombers 4H Club.  She was a long-time member of the New Strawn Community Christian Church.

The family moved to Topeka in 1963.  She worked as a supervisor for the Motor Vehicle Department in the Department of Revenue. After her retirement from the State of Kansas, she volunteered for the Topeka Civic Theater and Stormont Vail Hospital but moved back to Coffey County in 1997

She is survived by two sons, Ronald VanValkenburg of Pueblo, Colorado and Randall Van Valkenburg of Burlington, Kansas, and three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, other relatives and friends.

Graveside Services will be at 1:30 P.M., Wednesday, December 18, 2019, at the Graceland Cemetery south of Burlington. The family will receive friends on Tuesday evening 7:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. at the funeral home. Contributions can be made to the New Strawn Community Christian Church for a new Fellowship Building, and may be sent in care of Jones Funeral Home, P.O.  Box 277, Burlington, KS 66839.