Middleton, Maris

MIDDLETON, Maris June

Maris J. Middleton was born in 1950 on June 21, the summer solstice and "the longest day of the year", as she was reminded annually by friends and family at birthday celebrations. She was the daughter of a Lutheran minister and grew up in Wyandotte, Michigan. She took pride in thinking of herself as an irreverent, troublemaking "PK" ("pastor's kid"), a role she nevertheless failed at miserably. She had a deep faith in God that she expressed through kind and loving behavior to family, friends, and those in need. She graduated from Wayne State University in 1972 with a degree in English and later that year married Victor Middleton, moving to the twin "metropolises" of Houghton and Hancock in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to support Vic as he finished his master's degree at Michigan Technological University. She put her English degree to use teaching at Hancock Central High, where in 1976 her students acknowledged daughter Jennifer's upcoming birth by bestowing the sobriquet "Ma Middleton" on her at the ripe old age of 25. Her students loved her, and she loved them. The new family then went to East Lansing, Michigan as Vic pursued further education at Michigan State University, and where son James joined the family in 1978. After a brief stint in Catskill, NY, the family settled in the Dayton, Ohio area, where Emily arrived in 1982 and where Vic and Maris lived until Maris' death. Throughout her life, and anywhere she went, she showed her love of music and the church by serving as an organist, a skill she acquired in her early teens at her father's church. Her musical skills extended to the bassoon in the Wyandotte Roosevelt High School orchestra, the bass drum in the high school marching band, and the guitar with her brothers in various venues. Maris worked variously as a teacher, pre-school director, and musician, but her true vocation was that of wife, mother, and grandmother. All three of her children went on to successful professional careers, but her pride in their career achievements pales in comparison to their promotion of her to the status of grandmother. Maris reveled in this role, and her grandkids reciprocated in their love of "Gram." She was always ready to spoil them rotten, baking them cookies and other treats, dispensing hugs and love, and receiving them in return. The greatest sorrow in her passing is that they will grow up without her, and their greatest good fortune is the years that they had with her. Maris was a breast cancer survivor. She was preceded in death by her parents Rev. Paul F. and Ruth J. (Schumm) Wieneke and her brother; Dennis Wieneke. Maris is survived by her loving husband; Victor E. Middleton, Children; Jennifer L. (David Banas) Middleton, James V. (Sara, nee Peck) Middleton, Emily R. (Jeffrey Ellis) Middleton, Grandchildren; Colleen and Isaac Middleton, Clara and Margaret Banas, Tennyson and Nathaniel Ellis, Brothers; Douglas Wieneke, Daniel Wieneke, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews, extended family and friends. A visitation will be held on Friday, February 21, 2025, from 5:00 -7:00 pm at Tobias Funeral Home Beavercreek Chapel. A service will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 11:00 am at North Riverdale Lutheran Church. In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to the American Cancer Society in her name.

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