Maximilian Joseph Lidl

Max Lidl resolutely charted his own destiny, from the time he hitchhiked across Europe as a teenager to his decision to leave behind his native Germany in 1958 for greater opportunities elsewhere. He had tracked down a distant relative in New York and sailed across the Atlantic at 22. He never looked back and cherished his new country. After service in the US Army, Corps of Engineers, he joined the Bechtel Power Corp. in 1961. He would work for Bechtel for 37 years, retiring in 1998.

In October 1963, Max married Catherine Joyce Lidl, a junior high school teacher from Cumberland, Maryland. They had two sons, Erich and Bruce, and one daughter, Karen. Max was accompanied from his Bavarian homeland by his brother Ernst and they remained inseparable best friends. The brothers got married and started families at almost the same time. Numerous camping trips with Ernie’s family, and with Cathy’s sister’s family, the Dressmans, were some of the highlights of their young married lives. Ernie’s untimely death in 1977 was a terrible loss and remained painful to Max for the rest of his life.

Max’s career as an electrical engineer took him and his family around the country and eventually around the world, with assignments in Maryland, Michigan, California, the UK, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Max was passionate about engineering and took enormous pride in the large-scale construction projects he worked on, and in some cases directed. Successful work on the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, McCormick spice processing plants in northern California and a number Bechtel missions in Asia helped Max to reach the position of executive vice president. He and Cathy fully embraced the Bechtel lifestyle, and she was a constant presence in the Bechtel Wives Club. It was a true partnership between them that brought together his devotion to work and her skills at fostering valuable social connections. They worked exceptionally well as a team, as long as Max remembered to stay out of Cathy’s kitchen.

Max and Cathy would eventually settle in retirement to their dream home in Novato, Marin County, California. As dedicated to work as he was, Max was always just as passionate about the outdoors. Some of Max’s happiest times were cutting down trees and splitting logs in the forest behind their home in Darnestown, Maryland, accompanied by his German shepherd, Greta. As a happy retiree, Max devoted himself to hiking, biking and skiing and could be found, well into his 80s, tramping all over Mount Tamalpais, biking the back country of West Marin and downhill skiing at Northstar Lake Tahoe. He and Cathy also loved to travel together and crisscrossed the globe, visiting innumerable countries along with regular trips to connect with his family back in Bavaria and to visit their children and grandchildren. Before health concerns slowed them down, they enjoyed everything Marin had to offer, and Max loved telling everybody he met how much he loved his life in Novato.

Max was preceded in death by his wife and brother. He is survived by his children, his two daughters-in-law, Maureen Lidl and Rachel Teagle, his sisters Christa Thielert and Rosemarie Schäuble, and his five grandchildren, Kate DeFreese, Caroline Lidl, Max Lidl, Beatrix Lidl and Zeke Lidl.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations (https://www.wesharegiving.org/app/giving/WeShare-20000697?tab=home) be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society of Saint Raphael in honor of Max. The family extends their deepest gratitude for the outpouring of love and support during this difficult time.