Frederick Max Stein

F. Max Stein died peacefully at his home in Ft. Collins on October 31, 2023, at the age of 104. He was born on February 17, 1919 in Wyaconda, Missouri, the son of Friedrich and Viola Stein. Resourcefulness and frugality were values he and his siblings learned growing up in this small farming community, especially during the Great Depression. In 1936 he attended Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, where he developed a proficiency in mathematics. He played on the college basketball team, and ran track and field. There he met his future wife, Judith Peterson. He earned his bachelors degree in mathematics 1940. Following graduation, he taught and coached at three rural high schools in Iowa. During this time he was legal guardian of his brother Rex, as both parents had passed away. Max and Judith were married June 6th, 1943. He began graduate studies in mathematics at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, however as World War II was ongoing, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, receiving officer’s training in New York City, Brunswick Maine and at MIT in Boston. He was a radar instructor at Naval Air Station- Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii during and after the war. At discharge he had achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. Max and Judith resumed their lives together after his return to Iowa in 1946 and he completed his masters degree in mathematics in 1948. Soon he was teaching mathematics, science and industrial arts at Iowa Wesleyan. Daughter Karen was born in 1951. Next, he pursued a doctorate in mathematics at the University of Iowa. Upon earning this, the family moved to Ft. Collins, as Max was offered a professorship at Colorado A & M, now CSU. His first office was in “Old Main.” Son Kenneth was born in 1957. Max was a gifted instructor and wrote two introductory mathematics textbooks, published in 1963 and 1969. He also served as head of the graduate mathematics program at CSU. Following retirement from CSU in 1987, he and Judith had time to pursue international travel opportunities. Max was always interested in traveling to new destinations. During college he hitch hiked to help his uncle at his ranch in Wyoming, and to serve as a YMCA camp counselor in New Hampshire and Connecticut. Later, the family went on long road trips to visit relatives and old friends. During the 60’s he developed an interest in genealogy, and established contacts with cousins in Germany. In 1969 and 1974 the family visited relatives in Germany and Sweden (on Judith’s side), even traveling behind the iron curtain to (then) East Germany, where Max’s ancestors originated. After Judith passed away in 1993, Max adjusted to life as a widower, keeping in contact with family via an ongoing fifty-year chain letter as family was very important to him; remaining busy making furniture, playing golf, writing extensive diaries of his many travels, interests and experiences, and a new interest—poetry. He wrote over 1,000 poems, all with a humorous bent. He was honored to have participated in the Honor Flight Program as a WWII veteran visiting Washington D.C. in 2012. Max was a faithful and active member of the American Baptist Church in Ft. Collins, since 1955. He displayed an exceptional ability to maintain relationships with friends and extended family over a long period of time. Stability was another attribute he demonstrated, such as remaining in the same Ft. Collins residence since 1955. He had a wide range of interests and abilities: math, golf, woodworking, construction and the Rocky Mountains, making him a very intriguing person to know. He expressed love, not so much by words, but by deeds, and he thanked the Lord for blessing him with such a long and good life! Max is preceded in death by his wife Judith, and by his siblings: George Stein, Odetta Allender, Eileen Clark and Rex Stein. He is survived by daughter Karen Smoot (Steve)- Douglas, Wyoming, son Kenneth Stein (Nancy)- Manhattan, Kansas; grandchildren Jeffrey Smoot (Took)- Tualatin, Oregon, Ryan Smoot (Christina), Canby, Oregon, Brooke Vander Stoep (Jeff), Wengen, Switzerland, Danielle Stein- St. George, Kansas, Teodora Stein- Manhattan, Kansas and Hannah Stein- Frisco, Texas; ten great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. The funeral service will be held, 10am, Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at Bohlender Funeral Chapel. Interment with military honors will follow at Grandview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to the F. Max Stein & Myron S. Henry Scholarship at mathdept@colostate.edu would be appreciated. Visit bohlenderfuneralchapel.com to share memories.

Tributes

Frederick Max Stein

February 17, 1919 - October 31, 2023