LaVerne Jean Fiechtner Maxwell Coffman walked peacefully into the loving arms of her Savior and Lord Jesus surrounded by family Tuesday evening, August 2, 2022. Laverne was born to Edward and Caroline (Kirschenmann) Fiechtner on November 4, 1932, in Lehr, ND. LaVerne was the oldest of Ed and Carrie’s three children. The family moved to Hardin, MT when she was 4 and then to Fairfield, MT when she was 11, where she lived until she graduated in 1950.
She married Hugh Walter Maxwell on February 14, 1954, in St. John's Catholic Church in Fairfield. In May of 1954, Hugh was drafted by the U.S. Army and the newlyweds moved to Ft. Campbell, KY, and Ft. Benning, GA. In 1956, Hugh and LaVerne moved to Bozeman where Hugh finished his degree. The couple moved as Hugh worked as a county extension agent in the states of Montana, Nebraska and Iowa. During that time, LaVerne worked as a nurse’s assistant where her empathy and care for others was evident. Between 1954 and 1964, six children were born to Hugh and LaVerne, Patty, Steve, Ed, Teresa, Gwen, and Hugh Jr. In 1972, the family moved back to Fairfield where all six children graduated from high school. During that time, LaVerne worked in local stores and even ran “LaVerne’s,” her own women’s clothing store on Main Street for a short time. After becoming empty nesters, LaVerne and Hugh lived in Lincoln, MT and Hauser Lake, ID, for several years before returning to Fairfield.
Hugh passed in February of 2013 after 59 years of marriage. LaVerne continued to live in the house in which she had grown up and traveled to Simms, Townsend, and Ennis in Montana and Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Oregon visiting her children and grandchildren. In 2014 she reconnected with former high school classmate and sweetheart Jim Coffman, whose wife had also passed. The two started talking on the phone, then going out dancing and were later married in May of 2015. Not everyone gets a chance to fall in love twice, but anyone who spent time around Jim and LaVerne could tell immediately that they had both found love again. LaVerne and Jim embraced each other’s families and often talked about their collective number of grandchildren and great grandchildren, loving them all unconditionally.
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, visit the Schnider Funeral Home website.
