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Penny Maxedon, a country singer and musician who appeared
regularly on "Midwestern Hayride," one of Cincinnati's first weekly television
series, died Friday. She was 80.
Mrs. Maxedon played the bass fiddle in a band called the Lucky Pennies,
a group founded by her husband, the late Dean Richard Maxedon, who
hosted "Hayride" from 1956 to 1972.
Mrs. Maxedon and her husband, who died in 1997, were synonymous with the show.
"She was an entertainer from the time she was a little girl," said her
daughter, Brenda Hitch, 58, of Falmouth. "She was always performing for
family members or her church. She loved music. She loved to entertain."
Mrs. Maxedon was born on June 19, 1924, in Wabash, Ind. As a
teenager there, she sang in various musical groups and got noticed by
local radio stations.
She met her future husband through the music business. Shortly after their
marriage in 1945, the couple made their radio debut in Cincinnati, appearing
on WLW's "Boone County Jamboree," which evolved into
the "Hayride" television show.
"Mom loved the outdoors," Hitch said.
"She was a very independent woman, too. Last summer, she mowed her own grass.
She wouldn't let her kids help at all."
In addition to Hitch, Mrs. Maxedon is survived by her sons, Dean "Rich" Jr.
of Butler, Ben of Zebulon, Ga., and John F. Maxedon of Butler; daughters,
Tresa Cummins of Falmouth, and Marla Purcell of Falmouth; brother, Daniel
Shockey of Beaver Dam, Va.; sister, Donna Fisher of Scottsdale, Ariz.; 23
grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
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