Jean Decker and her sister, Joan Kozemchik, held a memorial service April 15 for their 92-year-old mother, Madeline Meixner, who died in January.

“We wanted to have something so her friends could remember her life and their memories of her,” Decker said.

Nearly 100 guests showed up at the David Thomas Home in Catasauqua, where Meixner lived. Guests told stories of their encounters with the feisty and memorable Meixner.

She was born in Weaversville and grew up on farms in Northampton County during the Great Depression. She moved to the Midwest to work and become one of the iconic Rosie the Riveters. When she returned to the Valley, she owned and operated Klecknersville Hotel. Her granddaughter Melissa gave some perspectives on how her grandmother would bring her classic ideas of style and manners into the post-hippy generation.

“Her favorite hobby was her paintings. She was honored years ago as the Grandma Moses of Catasauqua. Even as her eyesight failed her, she continued to paint,” Decker said. “She was a prolific painter, churning out paintings for hours on end. It was her escape and how she kept busy.”

Meixner would sit for hours with some of her neighbors as they took tea to discuss their adventures, past and present.

At the conclusion of the memorial service, guests were able to take some of Meixner’s original paintings as gifts from the family.