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Our dear friend Gaylord Maxwell died yesterday Sept 20th, Gaylord was the Founder of the Life On Wheels conferences and one heck of a nice guy. Our love goes to Margie his wife and their children he died in Coeur d"Alene Idaho.

Nick Russell a good friend of ours and friend to Gaylord wrote this article on Gaylord


The RV world has lost an icon. Gaylord Maxwell, longtime RV columnist and founder of the Life on Wheels program, died yesterday afternoon in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho following a brief illness.

We were with Gaylord just a few days ago at the Life on Wheels conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and at that time he told me that he has been diagnosed with Mersa, a form of staph infection. At Harrisburg Gaylord did not seem his usual self to me, though he did teach several classes, and received a standing ovation at the closing ceremonies.

After Life on Wheels, he and his wife Margie attended the Hershey RV show, and then visited their daughter in Vermont before returning home to Idaho. Soon after they arrived home he was admitted to the hospital. One e-mail I received said the infection had invaded his intestines, and his kidneys and heart were failing. Peggy Waterman, Gaylord’s longtime right hand at Life on Wheels, told me that he went into a coma and did not awaken. The decision was made to remove him from life support.

Gaylord had a vision for Life on Wheels that touched thousands of RVers, and made their lives better. He was a wealth of information on the RV lifestyle, and his circle of friends included all of the big names in the RV industry, both past and present.
He and I did not always see eye to eye on things, and we bumped heads more than once, but he gave me my first big break as a public speaker and teacher, for which I will be forever grateful.

I used to tease Gaylord, because when we first attended Life on Wheels as students back in 1999, I gave him a copy of the very first issue of the Gypsy Journal. He wasn’t very impressed and sort of blew me off. A few years later I was teaching for him in the program, and after each conference, when he handed me my check, I’d remind him of that day long ago, and he’d shake his head ruefully and say “Rub it in, Nick, just rub it in.” But I know he was proud of the growth I had achieved, and I was proud to be a part of the greatest educational program for RVers ever.

At the closing ceremony of every Life on Wheels conference, Gaylord would tell the assembled students “I believe each of us should have a reason to get up in the morning besides just having breakfast. I believe we all have a duty to leave this world just a little bit better than we found it.” That’s why, at an age when most men are sitting in their rocking chairs waiting to die, Gaylord was still out there in the trenches every day, drumming up corporate sponsors for Life on Wheels, badgering his cronies in the industry to cough up a few more bucks to help keep the program afloat, and looking for new instructors to add to the lineup. Life on Wheels was his reason to get up in the morning. And he did one hell of a job with it.

Rest in peace Gaylord, your work here is finished.

Gaylord will be truelly missed by Dan & I every Summer for the Life On Wheels and also in Yuma where Gaylord & Margie would stay in the winter time at Country Roads RV park. Gaylord had a big impact on how Country Roads was built and have a beautiful park model there.

He sounds like a wonderful man,... I am sorry you and Dan have lost a friend, and that the rv community has lost a leader.

Safe travels, Gaylord!

Oh what sad news. Thanks for posting Nick's article. I only met Gaylord Maxwell once at the LOW I attended in Bowling Green KY. He was such an inspiration to this wanna be. I will forever remember sitting in his classes and soaking up his knowledge. The industry has lost a HUGE cheerleader and he will be sorely missed. He will never be replaced.

Jenny, my thoughts and prayers are with you and Dan for your loss. God speed.

my deepest sympathies for the loss of your friend, sounds like the rv world has
lost an icon. I hope his teachings can go on from others.

Gaylord will be very missed by the RV community, he was AWESOME!! It tears at my heart that the last time I saw him was in April at his house for Happy Hour and taking his photo riding his bike with Susie his dog in the basket up front. He was a special guy and we dearly loved him! Our heart is breaking for Margie because they have been married for such a long time, they are both in their 80's and I remember him telling us they had been married over 50 yrs. I'll have to get ahold of Peggy Waterman and find out who will be taking over Life On Wheels now. I called my dear friend Linda this morning who was really close to Margie & Gaylord and told her the news, Linda is on the road and does not get E-mail so she had not heard yet.

Jenny, Such sad news. I was a wannabe and thought Life on Wheels would show me whether rving was for me. I came away so encourage and yearning for more. Thanks for the update

So sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

I'm sorry to hear about Gaylord's passing. What an extraordinary man. His life was lived well and he'll surely not be forgotten among the RV community. Thank you for sharing. May you feel God's presence as you grieve.

My neighbor's grandmother is fighting Mercer for the second time. Her's is on her leg. Scary stuff!

Jenny so sorry to hear of his passing. Have heard of him but had not meet him. So sorry for you loss as well as the rv world.
Sheila

This has not been easy on us and with the life On Wheels staff because we lost Dave Balaria suddenly in Feb and Gaylord was so upset about that because Dave was one of Gaylords best Teacher's at L.O.W. and now Gaylord passing suddenly. Everyone who was close to L.O.W. like us are greiving. We have been friends with Gaylord and Margie since 2000 and he was our "Boss" or should I say Margie was the "Big Boss" for L.O.W. Gaylord would buy us lunches while we were putting the students packets together and then when we were parking everyone,or threw us a Beer & Pizza party for the parking crew at the end of all the parking duties that Dan was on, he'd throw a big party at his home for the staff every year at the end of the conference. We will miss his wonderful sense of humor and the jokes about his deafness, the love he showed us. God has taken one of the sweetest guys I know and he will be truely missed. Thanks to Gaylord and a few other teachers we set our goal to be Full-timers ....we just celebrated 7 yrs .

I will add Gaylior's wife to my prayer list also. I just met them in May at the Bowling Green KY conference and they were so helpful and welcoming to this newbie.

I have Margie's address if any of you want to send her a card, I'm sending her one tomorrow.