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Max Collett
J. Max Collett, 81, of Grand View, died Dec. 1, 2007, at a Boise Hospital.
A viewing will be held Thursday, Dec. 6, from 4-7 p.m. at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home.
Services will be held at the Valley Christian Fellowship Church in Grand View beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, with burial to follow. A dinner following the services will be held at the Rimrock Senior Center in Grand View.
Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home.
Max was born the second son to Daniel and Vernetta (Buchannan) Collett in Paul, Idaho, on Nov. 27, 1926. He spent his youth on the family farm in Glenns Ferry.
He enlisted in the US Navy at age 17, serving on the USS California during WWII.
After the war, he returned to Idaho and attended Boise Junior College for a time before working full-time at the First Security Bank in Boise.
During that time he fell in love with his wife of 60 years, Joyce Mathis, of Glenns Ferry and Boise. They often joked about meeting each other when he was in the fourth grade and she in the second, the family said. Max and Joyce married on June 26,1948.
When the family farm became available, Max quit the bank and moved his new bride to Grand View, where he spent the rest of his life doing what he loved best -- farming. He was always a good steward of the land, his family said, noting that while in his 70s, he spent the last ten years of his farming life growing organic alfalfa and wheat.
"Max exemplified a life full of zest and was loved by all who knew him," his family said.
He traveled with Joyce extensively at numerous places in the world before choosing Honolulu, Hawaii, for the last 20 years, to spend the winter months while his farm was at rest. He also was a pilot, frequently flying to their cabin in McCall to escape the summer heat of Grand View.
Max was active in many civic organizations, including the local chapters of the Lions Club, Elks, and American Legion. He was a co-founder of the Valley Medical Clinic in Grand View, a legacy of which he was quite proud, his family noted.
"For the many who knew him, Max held on to his sense of kindness, sense of humor until the very end of his life," his family said. "He touched almost everyone he met with a smile and a handshake. A man's character is often defined by his friends, family, and stories left behind. All who knew him would agree that Max was special and beloved by many."
Max is survived by: his wife, Joyce; his daughter, Diane Matthews and her husband, Darrell, of Boise; his son, Steven Max and his wife, Maggie, of Grand View; a brother, Bob Collett and his wife, Ruth, of Oreana; a brother, Gary Collett and his wife, Julie, of Sammamish, Wash.; a sister, Donnetta Clark and her husband, Marlin, of Boise; five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.