A Minnesota life remembered through family
A former model, a Minnesota mother, and eventually a woman living with serious illness, Maxine Hazel Kallin occupied several roles before her name became a familiar line in biographies of Loni Anderson. I find the Minnesota setting essential to understanding her. Saint Paul and nearby Roseville were the family landscape, long before California entered the story during her final months.
Maxine is generally dated from November 29, 1924, to March 1, 1985. The birth and death dates are consistently repeated, although the exact Minnesota birthplace varies. Saint Paul and Ramsey County appear in some accounts, while another places her birth in Washington County. Minnesota is the secure geographical connection.
She married Klaydon Carl “Andy” Anderson and raised two daughters, Loni and Andrea. Her earlier modeling work is frequently mentioned, but no specific agency, campaign, or magazine appearance is firmly attached to her name.
The Kallin and Carver generations
Maxine’s parents are identified in compiled family histories as John Charles Kallin and Hazel Caroline Carver. The census based outline places five year old Maxine in the household of her grandfather Chancy Carver in 1930. A decade later, she appears as the 15 year old daughter of Hazel C. Kallin in Pope County, Minnesota.
I regard those details as a useful outline rather than a fully reconstructed childhood. They do not explain the household changes or establish why Maxine was living in each place. Family records can give us the rooms without telling us every conversation that occurred inside them.
Hazel Kallin, Maxine’s mother, has a more colorful place in the family’s remembered history. Loni described her maternal grandmother as a schoolteacher who also managed a dance hall associated with the Prohibition era. The combination suggests a life broader than a single occupation, although the surviving account does not provide a detailed business history.
Marriage to Andy Anderson
Maxine and Andy’s marriage is placed in Shelby County, Tennessee, in November 1943. Two different days, November 5 and November 13, circulate in the compiled family chronology.
Andy is usually described as an environmental chemist and dated from 1922 to 1977. A 1950 household entry instead lists him as a salesman. These descriptions need not contradict each other: an occupation recorded at one moment does not necessarily describe a person’s entire working life.
The family later remembered by Loni was middle class, with her father working and her mother managing the home. Maxine’s description as a housewife fits alongside her earlier modeling. Neither role requires erasing the other.
| Family member | Relationship to Maxine | Publicly established outline |
|---|---|---|
| John Charles Kallin | Father | Named in compiled family history |
| Hazel Caroline Carver | Mother | Also known as Hazel Kallin |
| Klaydon Carl Anderson | Husband | Known as Andy; died in 1977 |
| Loni Kaye Anderson | Daughter | Born August 5, 1945 |
| Andrea Anderson | Daughter | Younger than Loni |
| Deidra Hoffman | Granddaughter | Loni’s daughter |
| Quinton Anderson Reynolds | Grandson | Adopted by Loni and Burt Reynolds |
Loni and Andrea in Minnesota
Loni Kaye Anderson was born in Saint Paul on August 5, 1945. Her younger sister Andrea was listed as one year old in 1950, placing her birth approximately in 1948 or 1949.
The sisters grew up in the Saint Paul and Roseville area. Loni attended Alexander Ramsey Senior High School and was chosen queen of its 1963 Valentine’s Day winter formal. She later studied art at the University of Minnesota and pursued acting.
Her best known role was Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati, which aired from 1978 through 1982. That success arrived after Andy’s death but while Maxine was still alive. Loni’s subsequent family included daughter Deidra, from her marriage to Bruce Hasselberg, and son Quinton, whom she adopted with Burt Reynolds. Maxine never met Quinton, according to Loni’s later recollection.
Loni’s marriages also included actor Ross Bickell and musician Bob Flick. She died on August 3, 2025, two days before her 80th birthday. I keep that later history in proportion: it explains the family branches without making Maxine’s life disappear behind her daughter’s fame.
Illness and the move to California
Loni recalled a childhood household in which both parents smoked heavily. She described Maxine as stylish and animated, even remembering a broad hat damaged by a cigarette. It is a vivid image, but it is her daughter’s memory, not a complete portrait of Maxine’s personality.
Both parents later experienced chronic bronchitis. Andy died in 1977, and Loni attributed his death to prostate cancer. Maxine continued smoking after her own bronchitis diagnosis. Following a cancer diagnosis, she moved to California in 1984 to live with Loni and died about ten months later.
Loni described liver and pancreatic cancer and remembered her mother as 58 at death. The commonly recorded November 1924 and March 1985 dates instead calculate to 60. I retain that discrepancy rather than silently change either the dates or the recollection. Maxine was buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis beside her husband.
FAQ
What work did Maxine Hazel Kallin do?
She is described as a former model and later as a housewife. I cannot identify specific modeling bookings or a documented agency affiliation. Her career should not be expanded beyond those limited facts.
What are the main dates in her life?
The most consistent dates are November 29, 1924, for her birth and March 1, 1985, for her death. Her marriage occurred in November 1943, Loni was born in 1945, and her husband died in 1977. Her move to California is placed in 1984.
How did her illness affect Loni Anderson?
Loni later connected her parents’ experiences with her own advocacy concerning chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She also said that she and Andrea had asthma associated by doctors with childhood exposure to secondhand smoke.
Is there a reliable estimate of her wealth?
No personal financial estimate is established. A remembered middle class upbringing does not provide an estate value, and her daughter’s entertainment earnings cannot be assigned to Maxine.
