Maxine Rose Filice

Maxine Rose Filice joined her beloved husband, Tommy, in eternal rest on August 15, 2026, just five days before her 92nd birthday.

Maxine was born on August 20, 1934, in Tontitown, Arkansas, to Joe and Marcella Pianalto. She moved to Gilroy, California, as a young girl and made Gilroy her home for the rest of her life. It was there that she built a life centered around the things that mattered most to her: love, family, home, and tradition.

On May 8, 1955, Maxine married the love of her life, Thomas C. Filice. Together, they built a home and raised their three daughters, creating the foundation for the large and close-knit family and friends that would become Maxine's greatest joy and proudest legacy.

To know Maxine was to know how fiercely she loved her family. She worried about them, cared for them, fed them, celebrated them, and gave to them without hesitation. She was wonderfully generous, sentimental, and fiercely devoted to the people she loved. She saved cards and keepsakes through the years because the people and memories attached to them mattered to her.

Her home was truly the heart of the family. Walking through her door often meant being greeted by the smell of homemade pasta sauce simmering or something freshly baked in the kitchen, like bread and cinnamon rolls. She baked nearly all of her children’s and grandchildren's birthday cakes and became famous within the family for her rocky road candy. She was always happy to cook for a crowd, and no one who entered her home stayed a stranger for very long.

Maxine had a remarkable gift for hospitality. She welcomed everyone who graced her doorway with genuine warmth and generosity, and many of those relationships lasted for decades. She kept in touch with people she met throughout the many chapters of her life.

She also found joy in life's simpler pleasures. She loved reading romance novels and was devoted to her daily walks, often walking at least three miles a day. She treasured trips to Monterey to see the ocean and the family's annual camping trips to Mammoth Pools. And no matter where she was headed, there was one rule: Maxine did not leave the house without her lipstick on.

Maxine was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Thomas C. Filice; her parents, Joe and Marcella Pianalto; her son-in-law, Salvatore Oliveri, Jr.; and her grandson, Salvatore Oliveri, III.

She is survived by her three daughters, Denise Kline (Rick) of Missouri, Marlene Filice Velasco of Gilroy, California, and Vickie Oliveri of Gilroy, California; her seven grandchildren, Lisa Martin (Brock) of Saint Charles, Missouri, Marissa Ford (Ryan) of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Thomas Velasco of Gilroy, California, Christopher Velasco (Bianca) of Hollister, California, Gina Polhaupessy (Anthony) of Gilroy, California, Stephen Kline (Alyssa) of Stockton, Missouri, and Ricky Kline (Claudia) of Chandler, Arizona; and her great-grandchildren, Crisanto and Luca Velasco, Adeline and Callum Ford, Zoe Velasco, and Isaiah and Roman Kline. She is also survived by many beloved nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends.

Maxine's legacy lives on in far more than the family she leaves behind. It lives in birthday cakes made from scratch, cards tucked away because they were too meaningful to throw out, lipstick put on before walking out the door, a dozen white roses that her husband bought her for every birthday, family gathered around a table, and a home where everyone knew they were welcome.

For more than nine decades, Maxine loved deeply, gave generously, held tightly to the people and memories she treasured, and created traditions that will continue long after her passing. The family she loved so fiercely will carry those pieces of her forward.

Her life was long, her family was her greatest accomplishment, and her legacy will live on through every generation that follows her.