William Maxon

BILL MAXON(1926-2023)Bill died on Sunday, January 29, 2023 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.Bill was born in Grosse Pointe, MI and lived there until he went to college at Yale University. Severe asthma had kept him from being drafted. At Yale, he majored in Chemical Engineering, graduating in 1949. He received a Ph.D in Biochemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin in 1953. He then joined the Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, MI where he worked on the ground-breaking early development of antibiotics and later steroids.In 1950 Bill and Betsy Bachmann married in Grosse Pointe. Betsy had just graduated from Vassar College. Together they had four children, Jennifer Maxon (Gary Shepherd) and her two children, Liane and Matthew McMillian; twins Rick Maxon (Sue Maxon) and their two children, Danielle Maxonight and Kevin Maxon; and Paul Maxon (Sylvia Wallis) and their daughter, Minjiao; Mary Maxon (Tom Hancock) and their daughter Reva.Bill's retirement years were as busy and fulfilling as his career in science. He studied the history of art and then began sculpting, painting and print-making. His work is still shown at the Hand Artes Gallery in Truchas, NM.Since childhood, Bill had spent summers in Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada. As a teenager, he earned enough money as a factory worker to purchase a small rocky island there. He and his growing family spent many summers on Maxon Island, first in a cabin he and his father built and later in a contemporary house designed by his son, Rick. At his request, Bill will be buried on the island.No formal services are planned.