Maybelle Stockwell

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Maybelle Stockwell, 89, a native of South Royalton, died November 27, 2007. She was born February 14, 1918.

Private family services will be held. Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

She grew up on a 200-acre farm on Tunbridge Mountain with her parents, her two older sisters and the hired hand. As a young child, she would arrive at the valley school in winter tucked under her father’s arm in the one-horse open sleigh. Although her father only finished eighth grade and her mother high school, she and her sisters all graduated from business school. She attended Becker College in Boston.

She then worked in Randolph, where she tooled around town in her Model A Ford, and caught the attention of Hubert Stockwell. They married in 1940. During the war they lived in Galveston, Texas, where as a mechanical engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, he designed camouflage for troop ships and she worked for the Red Cross. After a few years in Seattle, they settled in Jacksonville, Fla., raising two daughters and a succession of cocker spaniels. They enjoyed dancing and going to the dog races and remained married until Hubert’s death in 1987.

At the time of her retirement in 1987, she had been employed for almost 30 years as an accountant and corporate secretary for an industrial warehouse in Jacksonville. After retirement she enjoyed her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her rose garden, reading romance novels and solving crypt-o-grams, which would arrive in thick envelopes sent to her by her aunt.

She and her sisters enjoyed traveling together, often in fast cars. Patrolmen were often surprised to find such elderly women alighting from the car they had just pulled over for excessive speed.

She also took time during retirement to take piano lessons and get her real estate license. Being needed, however, was her greatest satisfaction. During her lengthy illness, she continued as long as she was able to offer a hand to hold and a ready smile and encouragement.

Survivors include her daughters, Sandra Stockwell and husband, Robin Moore; and Holly Cheshire and husband, Ivey Cheshire; grandchildren, James Taylor of Jacksonville, Jason Stoutamire of Atlanta and Carrie Moore of Jacksonville; two great-grandchildren, cousins and several nieces and nephews.

She was predeceasd by her husband of 47 years, Hubert P. Stockwell; and her sisters, Susie Bellefeuille and Beth Ashline.

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