Maxine Aycock Southerland

Maxine Aycock Southerland was born on March 21, in Deville, Louisiana, the daughter of Frank and Doll Aycock. She attended Northwestern State University and received at B.A. in Home Economics, followed by master’s and specialist’s degrees in Home Economics from NSU as well. She married Thomas Paul Southerland and resided in Alexandria where Mrs. Southerland served as a home economics teacher at Boyce and Bolton High Schools. She was also Head Dietitian at Charity Hospital in Pineville, Louisiana and at several nursing homes in Natchitoches, La. In 1953, she gave birth to Judith Ann Southerland (Kessler) and in 1959, to Lisa Louise Southerland (Allen). And for the decades that followed Mrs. Southerland talked to her children every single day, guiding them and setting an example of a life well lived. She was a loving, exemplary mother. In 1965, Tom and Maxine Southerland moved to Natchitoches, Louisiana where she became professor and teacher/educator of Home Economics at Northwestern State University, her beloved Alma Mater. Her move to Natchitoches reawakened her lifelong love affair with the City on the Cane, Natchitoches. She became active in the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches, becoming the longest-serving President of the Association, serving from 1985 to 1997. During her time as Association President, she refurbished her beloved Melrose Plantation, reacquiring plantation furniture and accessories that had been lost when the plantation was sold to Southdown Corporation in 1971. She remodeled the Front Street Bridge in Natchitoches, keeping the authentic iron grillwork look while paving the way for a more modern and larger bridge. She fought to retain the city’s historic brick streets and to move the remarkable Roque House to a central downtown location. In the 1970’s, Mrs. Southerland served as the Director/Curator for the Museum of Educational History for Louisiana, centered in Natchitoches. Acquiring valuable artifacts and data from all over the state, she compiled a living history of education’s beginnings in the state. Mrs. Southerland served on the Natchitoches/Northwestern Symphony Society, the Natchitoches City Planning Commission, and she founded and for many years directed the Melrose Arts and Crafts Festival. She was active in her church, First United Methodist, serving as Worship Chairman in the 1980’s and early 1990’s and participating in her UMW Circle. She was selected by The Shreveport Times as one of the “10 Best Dressed Women in North Louisiana.” In 2011, Mrs. Southerland was chosen as a “Natchitoches Treasure” by the Natchitoches Chamber of Commerce. Northwestern State University inducted her into the College of Education’s Hall of Fame and into the distinguished “Long Purple Line.” She also received the President’s Service Citation. In 2011 and 2012, she served as the Chairperson for the Annual Historic Pilgrimage of Homes in Natchitoches, recruiting/overseeing over 250 volunteers to showcase 6 historic buildings to the public. Maxine Southerland loved gardening and reading. She loved history, politics, and current events. She adored her husband, Tom, her children, Jude and Lisa, her sons-in-law, Rande Kessler and Jeff Allen, her two grandchildren, Cliff Southerland Kessler and Thomas Cole Allen and her great grandchildren, Maverick Dean Kessler and Tucker Vaughn Kessler. Maxine was so proud of her alma mater, Northwestern State University, but most of all, she loved Natchitoches, the city that she always called “a little jewel.” And her heart was given to Melrose Plantation, the place where she gladly volunteered to serve, day in and day out, for the last fifty years of her life. Friends may gather to honor Mrs. Southerland at the Crossroads Chapel at First United Methodist Church on Thursday, March 13, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and funeral services will be held at First United Methodist on Friday, March 14, at 1:30 pm. followed by a brief graveside service at the American Cemetery on Second Street. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be given to the restoration of African House on Melrose Plantation. Checks may be made out to “Melrose Plantation/African House Restoration” and mailed to Gayle Howell, Treasurer, Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches, P. O. Box 2248, Natchitoches, Louisiana, 71457.