People who knew Maxine Humphrey - and there were generations of them in the nine decades she lived in Linn County - all use the same word to describe her: grace.

"Everything she did had a touch of gracefulness to it, a touch of cheerfulness, a touch of optimism and a touch of friendship," said former mayor Chuck McLaran, a friend for the past 17 years. "She was one of the 'grand dames' of Albany."

The longtime educator, community volunteer and supporter of the Boy Scouts of America died Tuesday at the age of 92.

Maxine had requested a private memorial service for immediate family only. Fisher Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

She had taught for 25 years, first at Tangent Elementary School and later in a kindergarten she founded at First United Methodist Church. She was active in the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce and received its Distinguished Service Award in 1998. She was a tireless fundraiser for the Scouting program and was honored with the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor given to an adult Scout volunteer.

Linn County District Attorney Jason Carlile worked closely with her for several years at the annual Friends of Scouting fundraiser luncheon and remembers her as "a lady of grace and class."

"Maxine was legendary in her service to the community and her love for the people of Albany," he said.

Longtime friend John Buchner remembers that love well. Maxine wrote a piece recently for the Albany Regional Museum newsletter that said, "Albany … has proven to me to be the best place to live and raise one's family."

"She was the kind of person that made Albany the special place that it is," Buchner said.

Wally Ordeman was 5 when he first met Maxine, who was his kindergarten teacher. In 1988, when Ordeman was a young funeral director, Maxine sought him out to handle the arrangements for her husband, Cecil, who had died of lung cancer.

Now, Ordeman is making those arrangements for the woman he was proud to call a friend.

"She had this air about her that made people comfortable, even when she was twisting arms for Scouting," he said. "You were glad to give because of how she presented herself in that gracious way."

Maxine Evelyn Willett Humphrey was born in Myrtle Point but moved with her family to the Oakville farm in Shedd when she was 6 months old. She lived there until going away to attend college.

Maxine, an only child, rode her pony to Bell Plain and Oakville schools. She rode the Oregon Electric Railroad to Albany for ninth grade.

"You could turn the seats in the train backwards or forward," she told the Democrat-Herald in a 1995 interview. "The sickest I ever got in my life, I turned the seat backward and ate potato chips all the way home. I couldn't eat a potato chip for years."

After graduating from Albany High School, where she competed on the debate team, she went to Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) and pursued a teaching degree at Oregon Normal School (now Western Oregon University). She started teaching the first four grades at Tangent Elementary School in 1936.

That same school year, she met Cecil Humphrey. She had joined a group of friends on an outing to Benton-Lane Park near Junction City, she told the paper, and there wasn't enough room in the car, "so I sat on this guy's lap."

The two were married 6 months later. He was 27, she, 23.

Cecil was a manger at the Albany Safeway store and later bought his own store, Cecil's IGA, which he operated at the corner of Queen Avenue and Elm Street for about 16 years.

Maxine took time out for the couple's two sons, Sylvan and Loren, and then returned to teaching. She founded and ran the kindergarten at First United Methodist for 10 years.

Over the years, she was active in the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, church activities at the Methodist church and later the First Church of God, Altrusa, the Kensington Club and various parent-teacher associations. She served coffee for 40 years at the annual Veterans Day breakfast.

"I'd love to do it all over again," Humphrey, then 80, told the Democrat-Herald in that 1995 interview. "I've enjoyed the whole trip and I still am. There've been bumps - there are in anyone's life. I feel a little sad because people my age and older say they wouldn't do it again, but I would."

Several people spoke with the Democrat-Herald on Wednesday to share their memories of Maxine Humphrey.

Chuck McLaran, former mayor of Albany

"Maxine was one of those rare people who knew everyone, it seemed like, and was a friend to everyone. Not only did she care about her family, she cared about Albany and all aspects of happenings in Albany.

"She was one who always looked at the bright side of any situation, knowing that there was always another side, but did not dwell on the other side.

"She had a feeling for all of the poeple that she had taught in school and could relate incidents and vignettes about her students, and she enjoyed them to the fullest. She was a person who enjoyed life and who received a feeling of self-satisfaction by doing what she could to help others.

"She was a wonderful friend of Scouting and had done much for Scouting, and for that received the Silver Beaver award, one of the highest, or maybe the highest, that an adult can receive.

"If you were around her very long you would have thought she taught everyone in Albany. She could tell tales about everyone."

McLaran remembers her deep and abiding faith in God, and the "exquisite" Christmas decorations Humphrey put up each holiday season.

"She was one of our dear friends," he said. "Both Kathy and I thought very highly of Maxine."

Chuck Mills, former executive director, Calapooia District, Boy Scouts of America

"In a lifetime, we meet a few people who are just bigger than life. They have a whole dimension about them that sets them apart, and that was Maxine Humphrey. Tremendous heart, tremendous passion for serving others, an amazing commitment to children. People whom she taught in kindergarten were so impacted by her that they were her friends for a lifetime.

"She's been an amazing friend. She had the heart of a teenager; her enthusiasm for life, and always reaching ahead, reaching out, not living in the past. I bought a wall hanging for her because it reminded me of her: "Always look ahead. Only look back for perspective." That was Maxine. She reached out to life with enthusiasm.

"Her efforts of her lifetime really helped shape a community."

Linn County District Attorney Jason Carlile

"Maxine was legendary in her service to the community and her love for the people of Albany.

"She was a faithful Scouter for decades. She was a lady of grace and class."

"Maxine was a treasured friend and I'd like to extend my sympathies to the family.

"She probably knew more people in town than just about everyone."

"She got a lot of kids started out in their educations. A lot of those peopel are still around here. She was very proud of that. When she and I woul cross paths whe would want updates on the people who would have been from my era." then she'd update me on the ones she knew about.

Wally Ordeman, vice president of Fisher Funeral Home

"She was my kindergarten teacher. I just remember looking forward to going every day. That was in large part because of her.

"I got to know her on an adult level when I was a young funeral director and making funeral arrangements with her for Cecil. She was always so gracious. And Maxine had a knack for knowing what she wanted. She came to us with a plan."

Ordeman remembers a lot of reminiscing whenever he and Maxine would come in contact. She would ask about all his classmates and then fill him in on any he didn't know about.

"When your relationship starts with ABCs and graham crackers and ends with planning a funeral, you can't help but get a little nostalgic," he said.

"She was gracious. Proud, proud of what she accomplished in getting kids started. She was from my grandmother's era, a contemporary of grandmother, and she had this air about her that made people comfortable, even when she was twisiting arms for Scouting. You were glad to give because of how she presented herself in that gracious way.

"She got me, when I was barely out of school. She got me involved in the Red Cross, in fundraising for them. I remember a phone call, and we twisted some arms together."

John Buchner, former publisher, Albany Democrat-Herald

"Maxine Humphrey was a special person in the life of the Albany community. She loved the city and its surrounding rural communities She enjoyed recalling memories of growing up in Oakville, riding the Oregon Electric train to Albany to attend high school, teaching small children for 25 years in public and private schools, volunteering with her church, Boy Scouts, Veterans Day, the Albany Regional Museum and many other community activities.

"She was the kind of person that made Albany the special place that it is. She wrote recently in the museum's newsletter that 'Albany and vicinity has proven to me to be the best place to live and raise one's family.'

"The chamber honored her in 1997 with its Distinguished Service Award: one of the most deserving recipients in the history of the honor."