Mona C. Lindeen

Our beautiful Mom, Mona Carol Maxson (Lindeen), was born in Coffeeville, Kansas on 05/13/1938 to Emerson (Max) Maxson Jr and Marguerite Mae Shanholtz. Of Marge and Max’s three children, Mom was the first born and their only daughter. She signed all her gifts and cards to her parents as follows: “Love Mona, your one and only daughter”. Mom was born in the upstairs portion of the home her grandfather built. Her Dad was tasked with “assisting” in Mom’s birth and grandma loved to tell us all the story of how “Max almost drown me with all the ether he was pouring down my throat”!

Mom was independent from early on and instead of walking to first grade as instructed, she liked to sneak off to her Uncle Grover’s grocery store. Eventually Uncle Grover had to spill the beans, but Mom never regretted her time spent at the store. The family relocated to Pocatello, Idaho when Max was assigned to work in the Amory Division for the US Army, and this is where Mom’s brother Emerson was born. The family then moved to Nampa, Idaho and eventually to Boise where they remained, and where Mom’s second brother Steven was born. While in Nampa, Max started his own floor sanding business, which is where he became interested in the bowling business. The family began traveling to bowling centers so Max could sand and refinish the wooden lanes. Through these endeavors the family was able to buy into, own and operate 3 separate bowling centers. They started with the original 20th Century Lanes located at 606 Idaho Street, then the Boise Bowling Center (BBC) located at 1212 Idaho Street. The two businesses combined, and the new 20th Century Lanes moved to its final location of 4712 W. State Street. Mom graduated from Boise High School in 1957. After working for a small grocery store on Warm Springs Avenue, she began working for and with her parents in the bowling business. Mom eventually took the reins of running the business from her father in the 1970’s and she remained the sole operator until its final day of operation in 2017. Mom also obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree from BSU in 1976, and volunteered time with the WCA utilizing her Social Work Degree.

Mom met and married her first husband Donald Hohnstein in 1959. Candace, Randy and Christine came along in 1961, 63 and 64. The couple split in 1966, which left Mom and her three little co-pilots to navigate life. Fortunately, grandma and grandad lived just a few blocks away and loved to take the whole family on regular outings, including picnics, camping trips and water-skiing days at Lucky Peak Reservoir. We split all the holidays and birthday celebrations between our two households. We operated as one large family and created a lifetime of wonderful memories, many of which included Mom’s and grandma’s delicious home cooked meals.

Mom married her second husband Chuck Lindeen on 05/05/1973 after initially meeting at the old Hillcrest Bowling Lanes. They remained married until the time of her passing on September 26th, 2024. Mom and Dad made lifetime friendships through the bowling business and took numerous trips around the nation to attend National Bowling Proprietor’s Conventions. Mom was the President of the Idaho State Bowling Proprietor’s Association for several years running and worked tirelessly to promote bowling and family fun centers. They also took several trips with friends over the years, including a variety of cruises, many of them out of the U.S. Family vacations with their kids and grandkids were some of Mom’s favorite memories and we all cherish these memories of time spent together.

Mom loved life and squeezed as much joy out of it as possible. Her greatest pleasure was spending time with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. A close second were her beloved pets. She cherished her fur babies and cared for them until their dying breaths. At one time, she was even taking her 19-year-old kitty in for daily hydration infusions! Besides bowling, Mom had a love of several other sports and interests. She golfed, played poker, played tennis, rode her bicycle, took a tap-dancing class in her 70’s and worked in her flower garden from sun up to sun down. Mom believed in doing things herself, just as her parents had taught her. She built planter boxes, remodeled bathrooms, hung wallpaper, and painted all the rooms in her homes. One day we 3 kids came home to find her tarring the roof of our early family home. She stated that the roof had really leaked after the last rainstorm. It had not occurred to us that riding our bicycles on the roof while Mom was gone was a bad idea! There wasn’t anything Mom couldn’t do or at least try. She was never able to learn to swim, yet she was a great water skier and even learned to slalom ski. Mom’s strong and adventurous spirit never waned. Just two years ago she was horseback riding in the Nevada mountains with Christine and Candace! Mom, Candace and Christine (The 3 Amigas as they referred to themselves) loved to take girls’ trips. The three of them went on annual trips together since the late 70’s. Candace and Christine will continue to go on adventures together yet will always ache for Mom until we can be together again.

Mom was preceded in death by both of her parents, and her son Randy. She is survived by her husband Chuck, daughters and sons in law, Candace and Robert Bowles, Christine and Denis Drouillard, grandchildren, Haily, Jessica and Lucas and great grandchildren Paisley, Tucker and August, brothers Emerson and Steven. She is also survived by her beloved kitty Max, who was a lifeline to her during her last year at home.

A Memorial Service will be held at Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel (5400 W. Fairview Ave, Boise, ID 83706) Friday, October 4th, 2024. Viewing will be offered from 12pm - 1pm and the service will begin at 1pm. A small graveside service will immediately follow for anyone who would like to attend at Kohlerlawn Cemetery, 530 6th St. North, Nampa, ID 83687.