Max Sturgeon Bobenhouse
March 8, 1927 – October 4, 2024

Plattsmouth, NE – Max S. Bobenhouse, age 97, passed away on October 4, 2024, in Bellevue, Nebraska. He was born on March 8, 1927, near Adelphi, Iowa, to Herman and Dema Bobenhouse. He was a positive, kind, generous, and hard-working soul who loved his family, planting trees, going for drives, and visiting the mountains.

Max grew up in Des Moines, Iowa and attended Des Moines Technical High School where he ran track and competed in the Drake relays. Upon graduation, he enlisted in the Marines in 1946 and after basic training was stationed near San Diego at El Toro Air Force Base. Following his discharge from the service in 1948, he returned to Des Moines and had several temporary jobs but eventually took a position working in the lab at American Optical. Max met his future wife, Alice Jean Inman while sailing in Clear Lake, Iowa in 1949 and they were married the following year on November 25, 1950.

Max and Alice raised two children, a son, James Alan, and a daughter, Jill Ann. The family moved to Omaha, Nebraska in 1958 where Max took a job as a dispenser at Physician’s Optical Service. He excelled at his work which led to an opportunity to relocate and manage a new Physician’s Optical Service branch in Kearney, Nebraska. Eventually Max and Alice were able to buy the company which thrived on their watch. While in Kearney, Max called upon his marine training to tackle and help disarm a disgruntled man who intended to harm the doctor at the office.

Max and Alice retired from Physician’s Optical Service in 1990 and have traveled widely throughout the Midwest and Southwest including many trips with family members to Iowa, Colorado, and Arizona.

Max served as a Deacon at the First Christian Church in Kearney and later as a member of the First Christian Church in Omaha, Nebraska. As a Mason and Shriner, he was an active member of the Masonic Lodge in Kearney, Scottish Rite in Hastings, and Tangier Shrine in Omaha, Nebraska.

Max is preceded in death by his parents Herman and Dema Sturgeon Bobenhouse and his brothers Carl (Irma), Vincent (Myetha), Robert, Frederick (Norma), and Richard Bobenhouse.

Max is survived by his wife of seventy three years, Alice Jean Bobenhouse, Plattsmouth; son, James Alan Bobenhouse (Elizabeth), Lincoln; daughter, Jill Ann Bobenhouse Tesar (George), Plattsmouth; grandson, Neil Alan Bobenhouse (Atrall) and great grandson, Beck Lloyd Bobenhouse, St. Louis, MO; sisters in law, Nellie Bobenhouse and Wilma Bobenhouse, as well as many cherished nieces and nephews.

A private inurnment service will be held at the Omaha National Cemetery on Thursday, October 17, 2024. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 11:00 am at the First Christian Church 6630 Dodge Street, Omaha, Nebraska with a lunch to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the First Christian Church, The Arbor Day Foundation, or the American Heart Association.