Born November 8, 1914, in the San Francisco area Mildred Maxine Mullin was the daughter of William N. Mullin and granddaughter of Henry N. Mullin (b. May 6, 1866 d. January 1930) and Inez Harris Mullin (b. October 15, 1870, d. May 1936).
Maxine's mother, Irene, died from a brain tumor when Max was three years old. After her mother's tragic death, she went to live with her grandparents. In later years, when she suffered from excruciating headaches, she lived in terror that she would die of a brain tumor. Ironically, Maxine died many years later of a ruptured aneurysm in her head.
Grandpa was a blacksmith. Grandmother Mullin made most of the Maxine's and cousin Ellabelle's clothing. The girls were two years apart in age, and adored each other.
The elder Mullins moved to Hawaii around 1920 to help their son, Maxine's uncle (A. N. Mullin), who owned Island Welding and Supply Co. Cousin Ellabelle and her Mother, Ella Beugger-Perkins, visited Hawaii for three months in 1923. The two girls attended Miss Cousins Kindergarten in Kaimuki.
In Jack Vorfeld's junior year at St. Louis College, a boys school, he noticed an adorable brunette his friend Bill Lederer was dating: Maxine Mullin. Jack told Bill he was going to take Maxine away from him.
Bill laughed.
Jack began dating Maxine.
Bill stopped laughing.
As Jack's high school graduation approached, the Mullins moved to San Jose. Once he began college in Oakland, their friendship continued, and in time developed into romance. After a year in college, Jack became homesick, and decided to transfer to the University of Hawaii. Max and family returned to Hawaii in 1932, as well. In 1933, they married. They are the parents of Peter (born 1936) and Ted (born 1937).
During get-togethers with family and friends, Max played the ukulele and sang. They all loved singing the current popular songs. They also enjoyed listening to music on the radio. Some time after the Mullins family moved back to Hawaii, Max wrote to Ellabelle's mother, explaining that she was getting married March 2, 1933. She asked Aunt Ella to come to Hawaii and take care of Grandma. Ellabelle and her mother arrived in September, 1932.
Later, Ellabelle lived with her mother and stepfather, George Perkins, in Pearl City—close to Jack and Max. The cousins spent a lot of time together . . . parties . . . picnics and swims at Nanakuli and Waianae. Max helped Ellabelle get a private duty job at the Waipahu hospital.
Max died July 11, 1969. She suffered for years from extremely painful headaches, but no one correctly diagnosed her situation (an aneurysm) until a few days before her death. The family was considering flying her to California for surgery (no one in Hawaii had operated on an aneurysm in the head in 1969), but she died before they could make plans to transport her. She left behind Jack, her brother Jack Mullin, sons, Ted and Peter, and grandchildren Jeff, Janice, Vicky, and John Vorfeld, and many other family members and friends. Her special legacy: love and laughter.
