Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Carol Louise Max was surrounded by the love of her family when she passed away on Friday evening, September 12, 2025 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. She was 86 years of age. She was born on November 24, 1938 on a farm seven miles south of Curtis, Nebraska early on Thanksgiving morning to Glenn and Mable (Williams) Ruppert; the third of four children.

Carol went to first grade in Curtis and spent one and a half years in the Dold School south of Maywood, Nebraska. The family moved to a farm five miles southeast of McCook and Carol finished grade school at District #31. She then attended and graduated from McCook High School and finally McCook College where she received her elementary education teaching certificate.

Carol taught the lower-level grades at Perry Country School west of McCook from 1958-1959. She met Alva Max on a blind date arranged by his sister; the couple attended a dance. On May 17, 1959, Carol and Alva were married at the Methodist Church in McCook. Carol continued to teach at the Orafino Grade School , lower-room, from 1960-1961 and at Stockville Grade School from 1961-1962.

Carol and Alva lived in four different homes northwest of Cambridge before moving in 1990 onto the Max Family Farm where Alva was born, raised and eventually died. The years were spent working together at farming, selling DeKalb Seed for 25 years, raising Registered Angus Cattle and having cattle sales on the farm with the help of some great Tech-students from Curtis. The students loved the home cooking; there were sometimes as many as 12 at a meal.

Since God did not bless Carol and Alva with children of their own, they greatly appreciated all of their nieces and nephews.

Carol loved DAncing, reading, poetry (and trying to write poetry), taking pictures, DANCIng, making greeting cards, cooking, DANCING, quilting, and her many farm cattle and dogs through the years. She also was a fan of easy crossword puzzles.

Carol was a member of the Stockville Womans Club, Frontier Stitchers Quilt Guild in Curtis, and the Friendship Quilters in Holbrook, Nebraska. Carol took part in craft and bake sales in McCook, Cambridge and Curtis for many years. She made baby quilts for all 17 of her nieces and nephews as well as 35 of their children. Not to mention, countless kids and baby quilts for the needy. Carol also helped at the Frontier County Fair in the open class for over 30 years.

Carol was baptized in the Stockville Congregational Church on November 23, 1997 and she attended church there from that point forward. She would attend church in Stockville twice a month in the evenings and each and every Sunday morning you could find her in attendance at the Curtis Methodist Church.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Alva in 2002; parents, Glenn and Mable; brother, Donald; father and mother-in-law, Jake and Carrie Max; stepmother, Alice; and brothers-in-law, Dean Roedel, Joe Hinton and Jim Johnson.

Carol is survived by her sister, Joanne Roedel of Cheyenne, Wyoming; brother, Larry (Lynda) Ruppert of McCook; sisters-in-law: Doris Ruppert of McCook, Twila Johnson of Stockville and Lavonne Hinton of Willows, California. She is also survived by 17 very special nieces and nephews: Kathy (Randy) Siltzer of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Karen Terrell of Breckenridge, Colorado, Mike (Anna Warm) Roedel of Savannah, Georgia, Donald (Diane) Ruppert, Jr. of McCook, Jeffrey (Angie) Ruppert of McCook, Susan (Bruce) Hagan of Culbertson, Patricia Leibrandt of McCook, Peggy (Kirk) Messinger of McCook, Cherri (Marty) Lashley of McCook, Dixie (Tim) Honn of McCook, Jackie (Kris) Sayer of Hershey, Nebraska, Levi (Frances) Ruppert of Jacksonville, Florida, Paul (Gail) Johnson of Stockville, Bill (Theresa) Johnson of Lincoln, Nebraska, Tamara (Mike) Jerd of California, Rod Johnson of Firth, Nebraska, Brock (Nancy) Hinton of California, and their families as well as countless friends.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday afternoon, September 17, 2025 from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Lockenour-Jones Mortuary in Cambridge.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10:30 AM on Thursday morning, September 18, 2025 at the Methodist Church in Curtis, Nebraska with Kort Kemp providing words of comfort. Burial in the Arbor Cemetery of Stockville, Nebraska will follow services.