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LYLE MAXEY, BHS 1959, died August 16, 2025, as a result of injuries sustained in a traffic accident.
Born in New York City, he was five months old when the family moved to California. At BHS he played B football and oboe. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an Army beach lifeguard on Oahu and member of the band. Discharged in 1963, he earned an AA degree from Los Angeles Valley College.
Most of his life he worked at sea as an abalone diver, sword fisherman, and tugboat deckhand/skipper. He held a 500-ton Masters license. In 1976 he met his future wife, Valerie, in Newport Beach. In 1989, they bought a 100-acre ranch on the Santa Barbara coast where they tended 15 acres of avocado trees while working as merchant seamen. That adventure complete, they moved to Solvang in 1999 where they were active in Old Mission Santa Ines, the Model A Club, and the American Legion. In 2014, they relocated to Cottonwood, Arizona to be closer to family.
At the time of his death, Lyle’s pet project was planting and nurturing an olive grove on their 2-acre property. He will be remembered for his innate ability to make friends, expound on just about any subject, his love of music (especially Beethoven), his culinary expertise and his willingness to drop everything to help a friend.
Lyle is survived by his wife of 47 years, Valerie, sister Marilyn (BHS 1954), daughter Gretchen, a granddaughter and two great grandsons. (Submitted by Valerie Maxey)
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