Obituary of Max Heger

Max Farrell Heger, 81, of Flagler, CO passed away November 21, 2006 at the Lincoln Community Hospital in Hugo, CO. Max was born on April 29, 1925 on the family farm near Hugoton, Kansas to Rudolph and Wavie Mills ( Heger). Max had one brother and two sisters. As a young boy he attended country school where he and a classmate over stoked the stove, causing the school house to burn down. The highlight of this tragedy was that there was no school for the next several months. He graduated from Hugoton High School in 1943. After graduation, Max continued to work on the family farm with his father and brother. At age seventeen, Max bought his first tractor a W9 International. His father was so impressed with the tractor that he himself bought two more w9’s the next day. Max and Betty Jean Gracey were married on September 1, 1945 in Hugoton, Kansas. To this union, three children were born. Max and Betty bought their first quarter of land for five dollars an acre. Along with starting his own farm, he continued to farm with his father and brother until 1960 when he moved his family to Flagler, Colorado to start the next adventure in his life. Max started off with very little in Colorado, moving machinery back and forth from Kansas in order to make his dreams come true and start his own family farm. He never had aspirations to farm half of Eastern Colorado, he just wanted to take care of his family and pass on his childhood memories of the family farm to the next generation. In 1975 Max and several local farmers went to Washington, D.C. where they joined with farmers from across the nation to rally for better prices for their farm commodities. Along with his joy of farming, he also was a member of the Oddfellows Lodge for thirty-three years. Throughout his life, Max had several interests which included flying airplanes, riding motorcycles, hunting, and fishing with his family. In November of 2004, Max faced his greatest challenge when diagnosed with cancer. He is survived by his wife of sixty-one years, three children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Max was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend and most of all, a hero to his family. His memory will live on in our hearts and he will be greatly missed. A funeral service for Max will be held Saturday, November 25, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. at the Love Funeral Home Chapel in Limon, CO with a Graveside service to be held at the Flagler Cemetery at 11:30 a.m. Memorials may be made to the Lincoln Community Hospital P. O. Box 248, Hugo, CO 80821.