Gaylord Walter Maxwell Memorial
It Only Takes a Willing Heart
God can use any man with a willing heart, for “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:…” (Psalm 37:23 KJV). But life didn’t begin that way for Gaylord Walter Maxwell, known to most as Max. He grew up on a farm in Iowa, where he and his older sister Norma and their parents lived with their grandparents through the Great Depression. There was no interest in attending church.
Max served in the Navy after high school graduation and then joined the Air Force. While he was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi, he attended church in New Orleans, Louisiana. He heard the Gospel for the first time and he accepted Christ as his Savior. Within a few months after his conversion, he changed from Radio School to the Chaplain’s Section where he served fourteen years as an assistant. After attending Midwest Bible College for two years, Max returned to the Chaplain’s Section and retired in Phoenix, Arizona in 1971.
Following his retirement, he and his wife, Hazel, began praying about what to do next, but the Lord took her home to be with Him in 1974. After reading an article, in Power for Living, about a Christian printer who was unable to go to the mission field, Max felt a strong urge to go in that man’s place. This led him to Bible Christian Union, where he served as a missionary-printer in Germany for nine years. While there, he stayed in the home of a single missionary, Millie, who had returned to the States to care for her parents. A relationship developed between them, and later they were married. He printed with BCU for several years and also ministered with HCJB and Baptist Mid-Missions. Millie passed away in 2000, but Max’s heart remained true to the call of God while he continued to serve with other organizations, such as CEF.
Max was introduced to Source of Light Ministries and helped as a volunteer for several months before moving to Madison and working in the Print Shop and then answering correspondence in the Madison Discipleship School. He retired from active Christian ministry in 2015 and moved in with his daughter Susie in Fayetteville, Georgia, spending more time with grandkids and great-grandkids. He moved into assisted living in 2019 and was able to stay in the Georgia War Veterans Home in Augusta after his daughter moved there.
He never stopped serving the Lord, always asking people if they were Christians. He loved the Lord and is now serving Him in Heaven after he left his earthly home December 7, 2021.
