Maxwell has helped at many events.

By Vivian Austin

SUN HERALD 3/31/07

ST. MARTIN - Patricia Letort, her brother, Brad Maxwell, and Smokin' the Sound participants who paid Maxwell a hospital visit last weekend were overcome with emotion by the tribute made by Rusty David, co-coordinator of the boat competition.

David, a co-worker with Maxwell at BanCorp South, already had asked the racers to visit Maxwell at home. Barbara Fountain, a co-worker, asked the hospital if Maxwell could be moved to allow him to view the races. She was amazed by the racers' generosity. David called Maxwell, bank vault manager, the ultimate volunteer who would do whatever asked of him with a smile and has the respect and trust of BanCorp employees.

"As soon as they found out how hard Brad has worked at this for years, their outpouring of love was overwhelming," Letort said. "At one point, they all came in his room, and the minute Rusty started to explain how important Brad was, they all started crying. It got pretty overwhelming."

The drivers, their wives and others made several visits to Biloxi Regional Medical Center last weekend to see Maxwell, a longtime volunteer with Smokin,' Cruisin' the Coast and Christmas on the Water. He was diagnosed with the terminal lung cancer in late January.

"They gave him shirts and pictures and all kinds of stuff," Letort said of the various teams that donated items and visited in their uniforms. "The Miss Geico team, they were fantastic."

The Geico team also visited the day of the races, dressed in street clothes they came to sit and talk, and to let Maxwell "know how much they admired him for what all he had done for Smokin' the Sound," Letort said.

The gifts included driver-only race shirts, autographed posters, jackets and an angel pin. On Monday, Professional Marine Racing 388 gave him their third-place trophy for their win in the Cat Lite Class, said Fountain.

"I just love motor sports. And it's a volunteer thing and I got into it," Maxwell said. "My brother (Steven) did some racing when we were younger and I just got attracted to it through friends."