Mrs. Maxine Bumbalough Austin, age 93 of Sparta, passed away on Thursday, April 2, 2026 at her residence.

Maxine was born February 28, 1933 in White County to the late Byrd Monroe Bumbalough, Sr. and Eula Lee Geer Bumbalough. She loved working outside in her garden and on the family farm. When she was not working around her home, she enjoyed serving as a substitute postal carrier and visiting with friends. She will be fondly remembered as "Mama Maxine" to both family and friends. Some affectionately called her "Trouble" which is a nickname that stuck due to her quick wit and feisty quips. Everyone will remember Mama Maxine for the love and devotion she had for her husband, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, in addition to her strong, sassy, tenacious spirit.

In addition to her parents, she is also preceded in death by husband, Billy "Meatball" Austin who died October 26, 2016; son Mike Austin who died April 29, 2021; sister Ruby Bumbalough Gregory and brother Byrd M. Bumbalough, Jr.

Surviving family members left to cherish her memory include her two daughters Regina (Jeff) Jolly and Cherri (Richard) Taylor

Grandchildren: Zachary (Heather) Jolly, Michele (Kevin) Leatherwood and Austin Taylor

Great grandchildren: Mavery Jolly and Nolan Jolly

Several nieces and nephews also survive

The Austin family would like to extend a special thank you to the ladies that provided special and loving care to Mama Maxine, Lori Swah, Brenda Cravens, Maxine Garrett, Christy Sims, Jada Preacher and Paula Savage

Funeral services will be conducted 2:00pm Sunday, April 5, 2026 from the Chapel of Hunter Funeral Home with burial in Old Zion Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 4-7:00pm Saturday at Hunter Funeral Home. Doyle Crawford will officiate.

Richard Taylor, Kevin Leatherwood, Zach Jolly, Tommy Austin, Austin Francis and Corey Austin will serve as pallbearers.

• apologies for the delay in updating Mama Maxine's obituary, our website host had an outage on Friday