“The Best Way Out Of My Heartaches”: A Double Suicide in Trumbull County

Cortland, Ohio
April 15, 1954
Leavittsburg, Ohio
April 16, 1954

A Gunshot and A Leap

Within the first months of 1954, three Cortland children became orphaned. Their mother died from cancer on January 29th, leaving their father to raise them alone. Yet on Thursday, April 15th, they discovered his lifeless body in the garage with a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. Their father’s name was Marvin Hayden Barnard and he was forty-five years old.

Less than 24 hours later, early Friday morning, a Leavittsburg woman went missing. Thirty-three-year-old Maxine Elliott Hickox had been estranged from her husband and sought a divorce. Around midnight, police discovered her locked car parked on Denman Road near the Mahoning River. Breaking in, they found all of her possessions, including clothing, money, and purse. Within the purse, a suicide note addressed to her husband read, “This is the best way out of my heartaches.”

The missing person search immediately turned into a body recovery. The Mahoning River ran ten feet deep along that stretch and police came to the assumption that she had left her vehicle and drowned herself. Torrential rains from the night previous had washed away any clues of where she may have entered the water.

Interviews with family and friends concluded that Maxine had been involved in a love affair with Marvin Barnard. She had hoped to divorce her husband and begin a new life with the widower, but Marvin dashed all plans by taking his own life. Investigators assumed the devastated Maxine followed his lead and wasted no time in planning her own suicide.

Family History

Maxine’s “heartaches” had been numerous. She was born in Youngstown on August 12, 1920, the daughter of Ernest Schaible and Effie Mae Masters. A near-drowning incident in her childhood triggered a life-long fear of water. She first married Fred Springer in 1940 and settled in Newton Falls. In 1943, their son, Lloyd George, died at four months old from pneumonia. Their surviving children were Royal and Eileen Mae. By 1947, the couple was living separately when their names appeared in the Niles paper for failure to pay their mortgage.

Following the legal divorce, Maxine made ends meet with a job at Packard Electric. In 1948, she married divorcé Archibald “Archie” Hickox who worked as a truck driver. They had a child, Aaron Charles, in 1952. Unfortunately, Maxine and Archie’s union would prove the second failed marriage for them both. The couple separated and had not yet divorced when Maxine took comfort in the company of Marvin Barnard.

Marvin had grown up in Trumbull County, the son of Oliver Bernard and Sadie Hayden. He first married Edith Margaret Oller in 1928. The couple had one child, Vernetta, before separating. He married second to Alice (Strom) Schiefelhein in 1932. She also had a child, Albert, from her first marriage. Together, Marvin and Alice had two children, Robert and Lola.

A Doomed Coupling

Marvin’s children reportedly disapproved of his relationship with Maxine. Their mother had only just died and Marvin had begun dating far too soon. They surely frowned upon the fact that Maxine was still married, though there may have been additional reasons for their dislike. In any case, Marvin—perhaps depressed over the death of his wife Alice earlier that year combined with “family problems”—doubtlessly drifted into despair. We may never know the exact reason Marvin lost all hope. Perhaps Maxine had broken off the relationship or the couple had argued, sending Marvin into melancholia.

Marvin’s children Robert, Lola, and stepson Albert all lived at his Cortland home where they discovered his body. Albert’s biological father had died in 1945 and he too became orphaned in 1954. Marvin’s children were in their twenties at the time of his death. Around the same time they discovered his body, they also located a note he left for them. In this letter, he asked for forgiveness.

Underwater Search

Volunteer firemen from Warren, Champion, Bazetta, and other nearby stations assisted in the search. Sheriff deputies focused their investigation on the stretch of river between Maxine’s abandoned vehicle to the Schaible home. As they dragged the river for Maxine’s body, those who knew her believed they were wasting their time. They doubted she would choose to jump into the river because of her extreme phobia of water.

Experts said that if she had indeed entered the water and drowned, her body would sink. Bodies typically rise in water as soon as decay sets in. Because the water was so cold, decay would take longer and two weeks could pass until her body resurfaced.

Heavy rain continued through the weekend and the water level swelled by two feet, hindering search efforts. The grappling hooks caught on logs, branches, and other debris, but the searchers persevered. The body could have become tangled in the detritus on the river floor. Fireman managed to pull up a piece of fabric that the family claimed belonged to a jacket Maxine owned. If this was the case, they had just missed the body, but further dragging efforts brought up nothing. At last, deputies abandoned the search and left nature to give up the body on its own terms. They believed it would eventually surface downstream.

Recovery

With the discovery of the jacket remnant and no sighting of Maxine, her loved ones came to accept that she had indeed entered the waters with the intent to take her own life. It proved a difficult pill to swallow knowing she had left behind her children, the youngest only a toddler.

Maxine’s brother—unnamed in the papers—remained by the riverside close to the Schaible family home, his eyes constantly scanning the flowing waters. He watched for nearly a week and at last on Thursday morning of April 22nd, his vigilance paid off. Floating on the surface, his eyes caught sight of his sister’s remains. Her body had not gone far from where she most likely jumped in and despite the rushing waters, had remained pinned to the bottom before dislodging.

Maxine was buried in Union Cemetery in Warren.

The deaths of Marvin and Maxine were senseless tragedies. This was no real-life story of Romeo and Juliet, forbidden love, or star-crossed lovers. There was nothing romantic about their joint suicides. It was simply sad. Sad for those children and step-children who needed them. Marvin and Maxine’s issues proved insurmountable in their minds and rather than put the lives of their children first, they thought only of ending their pain. That pain transferred to the children. It’s no doubt that Marvin’s children suffered lifelong trauma from witnessing his suicide scene. Maxine’s suicide came off as brash, arriving quickly on the heels of her boyfriend’s self-destruction. Not only were her young children left motherless, but numerous hours and great efforts from many volunteers were expended so that her body could be brought home for a proper burial.

I write this not as a fascinated witness to past tragedies, but as an observer and reporter. We will never know what motivated Marvin and Maxine to take their own lives, but I do hope that their story could prevent someone else from following in their footsteps. All dignity is relinquished in this manner of death. Heavy is the burden of pain and trauma transferred to the living. When life seems too unbearable, know that all things, including emotions, pass. They alter, transform, grow and shrink with the variation of time. The universe has a way of sorting out the most difficult of situations organically. A natural adjustment in the mortal skein. I can say this from my own experiences living with crippling anxiety and depression. Most heartbreaks can be overcome with time. Forgive the platitude, but it is our scars that shape us. Are we human if not a little jaded? Pain is an unwelcome passenger in life, but if we allow love to be the driver, we can make it to our destination—on time and not a moment too soon.

Resources:

Note: Exact spelling of Schaible surname is yet to be determined. Maxine’s maiden name is spelled differently in nearly every available record. Other spellings include Schieble, Schauble, and Schabbel/Schabel.

• Marvin Barnard suicide, “Bulletin”: Page 1 of Niles Daily Times, published in Niles, Ohio on Thursday, April 15th, 1954
• “Drag Mahoning for Suicide’s ‘Girl Friend’ ”: Page 3 of Niles Daily Times, published in Niles, Ohio on Friday, April 16th, 1954
• “Continue Dragging Mahoning for Body of Suicide Suspect”: Page 1 of Niles Daily Times, published in Niles, Ohio on Monday, April 19th, 1954
• “Find Body of Warren Woman Who Sought Death In River”: Page 1 of Niles Daily Times, published in Niles, Ohio on Thursday, April 22nd, 1954
• 1940 US Census, Fred and Maxine Springer: “United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWG4-7KC : 9 January 2021), Fred Springer, Newton Falls, Newton Township, Trumbull, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 78-81, sheet 1A, line 1, family 1, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3158.
• 1940 US Census, Marvin Barnard: “United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWG4-3Q1 : 9 January 2021), Marvin Barnard, Newton Falls, Newton Township, Trumbull, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 78-79, sheet 5B, line 58, family 85, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3158.
• Archibald Hickox and Maxine Springer Marriage Record: “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9WN-1HNP?cc=1614804 : 2 February 2016), > image 1 of 1; county courthouses, Ohio.
• Marvin Bernard and Edith Oller marriage record: “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQR-7PP8 : 13 November 2021), Marvin Hayden Bernard and Edith Margaret Oller, 1928
• Marvin Bernard and Alice Schiefelhein marriage record: “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQR-KRPW : 13 November 2021), Marvin Barnard and Alice Schiefelhein, 1932.