After her children were raised, Maxine went to work teaching in elementary school where she taught all subjects. She taught at high school level, and there her specialty was home and family education. She has also taught at the university level at Harding University, where she has taught crafts and calligraphy. She was selected as an “outstanding teacher” at a number of levels, including 4th, 11th and 12th grades.Maxine and L. V. have had an exciting life, as they have traveled to 22 countries with their students on evangelistic campaigns. They have both taught at the Harding University campus in Florence, Italy.Maxine fondly recalls her days of growing up in Santa Paula with her extended family of the Mitchells and the McCalisters, and the fellowship and inspiration she received at the Church of Christ. As she travels the world, she carries with her some of that hometown Santa Paula flavor.
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Maxine Mitchell Pfeifer, Class of 1946
October 13, 2000
Santa Paula High School
By B. J. Harding, President, SPUHS Alumni Association
Maxine, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Mitchell, and her brother Carl, Class of 1943, were two of the lucky ones to attend grade school in Mupu. Somehow the children attending this very small country school got special attention and came to high school prepared for a higher education.Maxine recalls working with Grace Kerslake, her Spanish teacher, and Margaret White, her English teacher with whom she worked on the school paper, “The Cardinal.” Maxine had many special friends at school but one particular one, Mildred Meadows (‘46) has stayed in touch to this day. One of Maxine’s favorite classes at school was crafts, and she was able to create an embossed leather purse which she still possesses. Her hobbies today still have to do with art and sewing.Following graduation from SPUHS, Maxine went to Pepperdine College in Los Angeles. She then interrupted her academic pursuits to work as a key punch operator at Port Hueneme. In the fall of 1948 she enrolled at Abilene Christian College in Abilene, Texas, where she graduated in the spring of 1951 with her degree and teaching credential.As a student at ACC she attracted the attention of a tall Texan with whom she has now celebrated 50 years of marriage. L. V. and Maxine have two children, Sherry and Derrick, who have presented them with four grandchildren. Maxine’s husband L. V. is a minister of the Church of Christ and a theology professor at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.
