Maude Elaine Hitze Meyerend passed peacefully and quietly into the arms of Jesus on March 17, 2024. She was born on March 9, 1931 to Frank Carl Hitze and Edith Bogia Hitze in Abington, Pennsylvania. Her parents and grandparents were strong Christians and Maude grew to love Jesus from a young age, accepting Him into her heart at just five years old. When she was eight years old, her little sister Edie was born. In her teen years, Maude was active in youth camps and began to teach Sunday School and Good News Clubs. She met Robert (Bob) Meyerend at Houghton College in New York. As Bob loved to say, "She chased me until I caught her!" (Although it was really the other way around!) They got married in 1951 after their junior year at Houghton and transferred to Eastern Baptist College (now Eastern University) in Philadelphia. Upon graduation, Bob attended Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Maude studied to obtain a master's degree in library science from Drexel University in Philadelphia. This was at a time when many women did not go to college, let alone earn a master's degree! Bob's first church assignment was in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. So it was that the young couple packed their bags, said goodbye to their parents and headed west. Bob then pastored a church in Lakin, Kansas where their son, Paul David, was born. Three years later they welcomed Rebekah Joy into the family. They then moved to Ohio and eventually back to the Philadelphia area.

Besides loving Jesus, Bob and her children, Maude loved books and reading, and their home was always full of books. While in Ohio, she became the head librarian at a library in Martin's Ferry. In Pennsylvania, she was a children's librarian in Chester and later worked as a librarian in a nursing school. When the nursing school closed down, she transferred to the hospital library. She took early retirement so she could move with Bob to Florida in the mid-90s. For a few years she worked in an afterschool program with four-year-olds at her church school. When the headmaster asked her to start a library, she used her wealth of knowledge and experience to implement and run a school library. She finally completely retired in 2008 so she could care for Bob who had some health challenges. When Bob passed away in 2013, they had been married for over sixty-one years. Until she began to have her own health challenges a few years ago, she was active in many ministries at CrossRoads Church in Daytona Beach, including Young at Heart, AWANA, and Walk through Bethlehem.

Maude was faithful to the Lord first and then to her family. She worked hard to make sure their needs were met, followed her husband through many different moves, and instilled in her children a commitment to the Lord, His work and His church. She encouraged them to follow the Lord wherever He led, never complaining or holding back. When asked why she let her only daughter go to Mexico to do mission work, she said, "When our children were babies we dedicated them to the Lord. We are proud of their obedience and service to the Lord." Although we are sad at her passing from this earth, it is a joy to know she is reunited with her husband, her parents and many dear friends who have gone before. We can only imagine the thrill to hear Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master."

Maude is survived by sister Edie Davis and brother-in-law Lynn Davis, son Paul Meyerend and daughter-in-law Heather Meyerend, daughter Rebekah Meyerend, grandsons David and Daniel Meyerend, and six nieces and nephews as well as many great nieces and nephews.