Maxson, Ione

one’s father William Priem came from Germany at the age of fourteen and his family settled in Lily, Wisconsin. Her mother Ida Ehlarsh was from Southern Wisconsin and the two met at a family gathering. Later the pair married and had fourteen children in total, five boys and nine girls. The family owned a dairy farm and a mercantile store, and all the kids worked to help with the family business. Ida was a housewife and an excellent cook. Ione fondly remembers family dinner time and family games. “We had a lot of fun,” she says.

Ione was born September 1, 1912 in the town of Lily. She attended Lily School and graduated. She married in 1936. During World War II Ione moved to Iowa where she worked as a courtesy clerk for different department stores. She remained in Iowa until 1952 when she moved to San Jose, California. There she found employment in administrative support with the East Union High School District and worked there for nearly twenty years until her retirement in the late 1970s. During the 1980s Ione traveled extensively with her sorority sisters to Canada and throughout Europe: Ireland, Germany, France, Italy and Austria.

In October 2001 at her nieces’ request, Ione decided to relocate to Chandler to be closer to the family. Today Ione is happily living in Atria, where she enjoys time with friends and a good card game of Hand and Foot. She enjoys living in Chandler because she’s close to everything and she can go on Sunday drives to see the beautiful Arizona scenery.

When asked about her lengthy life and experiences she’d lived, Ione stated that although she held down many jobs in her life, that “I don’t think I ever had a job that I said, ‘I hate to go to work this morning.’ I made sure that I took a job that I would like and that was it.“ When asked what important advice she would give today’s youth for the future, Ione offered, “I would advise them to try and get involved in the City and the towns and the companies and have loyalty to the people they work for.”

To listen to or read the transcript of an oral history interview with Ione Maxson recorded on January 19, 2012, click on the icons below:


Interview Part 1	Interview Part 2	Interview transcript