Hazel Maxine “Aunt Max” Pulver Bennett, 98, of Carthage, passed away at 6:00 AM Monday morning, April 18, 2022, at Hickory Grove Apartments in Carthage.

Maxine was born August 16, 1923, the daughter of Howard and Alma Elizabeth (Guilliams) Warner in Leesburg, Illinois.  She attended school in Table Grove.  In 1939 she was united in marriage to Gene Smothers, and they had two children, Robert and Connie Jo.  They later divorced and in 1947 she was united in marriage to Leonard Pulver.  He preceded her in death in 1992.  In 1995 she married Robert Bennett and he preceded her in death in 2008.  In her younger years Maxine worked at the roller rink in Marshalltown, Iowa and the clock factory in Table Grove.  She later spent 26 years working at the Carthage Super Value grocery store as a cashier and then bookkeeper.  She was an honorary Eagle’s Auxiliary member and was the first madam president of the Eagle’s Club #3515 at Carthage in 1975-76.  She was a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church in Carthage and had served as the Treasurer of the Women’s Club.  She loved her volunteer work at the Carthage Primary School serving as a “reading pal” for nine years.

Maxine is survived by her children, Robert (Katherine) Smothers of Bellevue, Ohio and Connie Jo Smith of Ft. Collins, Colorado; grandchildren, Kristi Wear, Becca Copeland, Brooke Wear, Joe Smothers, Deb Foxen, Alison (Nick) Smith-Leuthi, and Stephanie McKinley; great grandchildren, Jake Smothers and Joey, Jake and Jaden Anderson; a sister, Martha Lee Ulmer of Macomb; special nieces, Peggy Randall of Quincy; Deanne Brooks of Carthage, Carla Warner of Warsaw and and many nieces, nephews and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; stepmother, Viola Hamm Warner; brothers, William Howard, Lewis E. and Ronald “Bud” Warner; sisters, Evelyn Derry and Gerry Warner.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM Saturday morning, April 23, 2022, at the First United Methodist Church in Carthage with burial to follow in Moss Ridge Cemetery in Carthage.  Visitation will be held from 5:00 – 7:00 P.M. Friday evening at Printy Funeral Home in Carthage.  Memorials may be directed to the Carthage Primary School in Carthage for reading interventions for the students or Hickory Grove Assisted Living for the sunroom project.  Printy Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements