April 28, 1935 – May 12, 2020
Maximilian George Maier was born on April 28, 1935 in Middle Lake, SK to Maxim and Katherine Maier. He married Irmgard Welzel on June 10, 1953 and they settled on their farm in Barthel, SK. They would spend the next 60 years lovingly raising and welcoming their nine children, 28 grandchildren and 31 great grandchildren!
Max “maxified” everything he touched! He was an inventor, enforcer, hunter, trickster, jokester, farmer, plumber, electrician, welder, barber, veterinarian, dentist and self-proclaimed Sheriff of Barthel. He was the “Mac” of all trades!! Even Covid-19 did not stop him from patrolling Arby’s and the mall parking lot to chat and check in with friends!
He drove school bus for 35 years and used his bus route as coffee row to socialize with neighbors and friends. He was the first bus in line at the end of the school day and even though he had zero tolerance for misbehaving on the bus, he always had a smile for the kids when he dropped them home safely each day.
He loved to spend hours in his Suzuki hunting and making his own path through fields, ditches and swamps just to see if he could actually get stuck.
He was always available for a neighbour who needed help with a farm animal, a broken piece of equipment, needing to get rid of nuisance animals (bears and skunks were his favorites!), a tooth pulled or even a haircut, he was the man to call. He spent lots of time in his garage inventing and creating. His welded artwork and inventions are on display throughout all of Barthel and will surely last the test of time, because everything he created was most importantly built to last.
Spending time with family was something he enjoyed the most. He loved seeing and teasing all the grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Our family gatherings are always centered around music, stories and a whole lot of laughter! The family band, The Gypsies, where Max played the accordion surrounded by his children made him very proud. This love for music has become part of a foundation that holds our family together and will continue to thrive in all of us in one way or another.
He will be sadly missed by his children Lambert (Judy), Harold (Erika), Valeria (Terry), Linda (Greg), Leslie (Sharon), Bernice (Vince), Marvin (Charmaine), Alvin (Shawna), Julie (Corin), all his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, his sisters-in-law Fran, Lil and Agnes, many nieces and nephews, and by all those who knew him.
He has long awaited to be united with his wife Irmgard, his parents and his brothers and sister. He was the last link in a chain of an era that will always be sadly missed. How lucky we were to have people in our lives that makes saying good-bye so hard. Be good up there!
