Max Oliver

Max Lewis Oliver, son of Herman A. and Nellie M. (Sinift) Oliver, was born on May 23, 1926 in Franklin Township, Clarke County, Iowa, and went to be with the Lord on April 7, 2020.  Max grew up on the farm and attended rural schools while helping his parents farm near Weldon, Iowa.  Growing up during the depression, he was a hard worker,  and always wanted to stay busy and earn money.

In 1947 he started working at the Charley Easton Body Shop in Osceola with his career in the automobile industry expanding to auto body repair (Oliver-Goodrich Body Repair), body shop manager of Ben Cole’s Oldsmobile dealership, and going into business for himself starting Oliver Body & Glass in 1960.  In 1965 Chrysler Motors factory representatives came and asked him to become a car dealer and Oliver Chrysler, Plymouth & Dodge was born.  In 1974 Max built a new dealership fronting US Highway 34, adding a Ford-Mercury franchise to the dealership which he continued to operate with his wife, Jean, until he retired in 1997.

In April of 1951 Max married Audrey Jean Johnson in Murray, Iowa.  They were married for 63 years, living most of their married life in Osceola.

Max loved living in the country and when he wasn’t working at his dealership and auto repair business, he was working on his farm, caring for his Angus cattle, pets, and sharing a hobby with Jean of raising horses and showing American Saddle bred Horses.  He also enjoyed gardening, boating and fishing, snowmobiling and helping his neighbors, frequently plowing out their driveways after it snowed. He was a member of the Clarke County Sheriff’s Posse and the Clarke County Cattlemen Association.

Most of all Max loved his family - his daughter Janet (Mike) Adair of Memphis, TN; his foreign-exchange daughter from Guatemala, Sylvia Rodriquez Ovando, and his granddaughters, Rachel Adair of Verona, Italy, Stephanie Adair of Little Rock, Arkansas and Ana Lucia Ovando from Guatemala, and many nieces and nephews.

Max was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Jean (2014), his brother Gerald Oliver (1997), his sister Donna Cheek (2002) and his sister Carolyn Holdridge (2015).

Due to the Covid-19 (corona virus) pandemic with the gathering of individuals prohibited, a family graveside service was held Monday, April 13, 2020.  A Celebration of Life will be held later this year after event restrictions are lifted.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a tribute donation may be made in his name to the Alzheimer’s Association at 225 N. Michigan Ave. - Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601

Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.kalefuneralhome.com