Adrienne Rose Mayfield

     Adrienne Rose Chernits Mayfield died Sunday morning July 8,2018 in her home after a brief illness.  She was born in South Bend an only child, but growing up with cousins, aunts and Hungarian grandparents.  She married high school sweetheart Calvis L. Mayfield and they had four children: Deborah Mayfield, Gwen DeMaegd (John), Jennifer Mehall (Bill), and Mike Mayfield (Diane) all of whom survive.  She is also survived by fourteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren: Daniel and Joe DeMaegd, Will, Jonathan, Michael, and Tim Mehall, Derrick (Erin), Brent, Ryan, Jill, Peter, Jena, and Brooke Mayfield, Grant and Sloane Mayfield.  She was preceded in death by grandson Mark Mayfield, January 23, 2017.

    Before having a family she studied tap and ballet with Madge Rose Brockevelt and taught classes in South Bend.  Adrienne is remembered as a strong woman who adored her family.  She was family manager, babysitter/nanny, chauffeur, chef, cleaning lady, tutor, family therapist nurse, bed & breakfast manager, dog lover and fisherman.  Adrienne was bookkeeper and office manager at their Machine shop (C.M. Grinding).  She was the balance to husband Cal’s worklife and getting the family to enjoy some summer lake vacations.  ‘Ade’ (as she was usually called) and Cal eventually would make Hudson Lake their home.  Fishing with Cal and their dog after work also provided respite from a days work.  She was an avid sports fan who would converse about Notre Dame basketball and the NBA, (and loved 1990 Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan).  The most devoted fan of her grandchildren’s athletics she could be heard cheering at high school and grade school sporting events and little league games encouraging the best in them.  Showing good sportsmanship always and negative comments were kept for the car ride home.  She lived how to treat people with love and respect, never judgmental, The Golden Rule, treating others the way you want to be treated.  Adrienne was classy and elegant but most of all gracious in her ways.  From her love of the color Navy Blue and high quality clothing she was equally comfortable wearing blue jeans or a tailored navy blue suit.

   Feeding crowds of family and friends at holiday time and birthdays meant macaroni and cheese, ensuring an over abundance of food, being her worst food critic and seemingly never sitting down to eat.  She was the ‘saver’ of things from Saving ‘leftovers’ (food), to saving childhood school papers, to things you left at her house.  Late night Euchre card games, grandchildren recall her being the best in the Midwest.  She offered more listening than advice to family always reminding them to ‘go for it’ and they ‘could do anything in this world if you put your mind to it!’  Summers and holidays when out of town family arrived, sleepovers were reunions with fourteen grandkids in a two bedroom lake home.  Pancake breakfasts and fishing, Ade loved watching her grandkids fish. She frequently joined Cal on the pontoon boat putting worms on fish hooks, taking fish off hooks.  If ever they were sick, gargling, popsicles, squirt (or sprite) helped cure.  Remembering everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries, Ade had a kitchen calendar filled with names next to dates and choosing the best cards and gifts for those occasions was a science.  Shopping via thrift stores, the mall or garage sales with family was an adventure and fun sport. While she loved to shop for fun, material things were not important to her.  She built her life around her family, her husband who she said ‘ he’s a really good guy, there’s no one like him’ and making sure the people in her life knew they were loved. 

     A visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Thursday in Holy Family Church, where a rosary will be prayed at 5:00 p.m.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. Friday, July 13, 2018, in Holy Family Church, where a visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 10:45 a.m.  Burial will follow in Sacred Heart Cemetery.  Memorial Contributions may be directed to Holy Family Church.  Kaniewski Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. To send online condolences, please visit kaniewski.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Adrienne Rose Mayfield, please visit our floral store.