Max Bolgla passed peacefully at home on December 4, 2022. He was born in Augusta, GA on July, 15, 1926, the youngest child of Joe and Bertha (née Rabinowitz), who, along with many other Bolgla family members, immigrated from Brest-Litovsk, Russia.
Max grew up on Forsythe Street. In 1944 he was eager to join the war effort like his three older brothers, so he enlisted in the navy three days after his seventeenth birthday. He was a signalman on the USS Odum in the Pacific Theater. After the war and his honorable discharge, he returned to the Academy of Richmond County to complete his senior year. The GI Bill allowed Maxie to attend the University of Georgia, where he was a member of the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity and graduated with a degree in business.
Maxie returned to Augusta, bought a farm on Baker Road in Columbia County, and opened Maxie’s Shoe Store and Clothing, which he ran for close to fifty years. He loved raising cattle and baling hay and tolerated selling shoes.
Maxie met his wife, Sharon Finkelstein Bolgla of Atlanta, GA, on a blind date. They wed on February 8, 1959 and celebrated 56 years together until Sharon’s death in 2015. Max and Sharon were a perfect match, as Sharon’s vivaciousness and friendliness were in direct proportion to Maxie’s laconism.
Maxie was preceded in death by all of his siblings and their spouses: Bennie (Mary and son Barry), Molly, Miriam Blum (Nat), Abe (Rosalie), and Morris “Mushie” (Annette).
He is survived by his devoted children: Ivan (Mary), Lori, and Jodi; grandson Brian (Marisa), granddaughter Brooke, and great-granddaughter, Sadie; special niece Jan (Bob) of San Anselmo, CA, family friend, Carrie Friday, nieces and nephews.
Maxie was a lifelong and active member of Adas Yeshurun Synagogue and also attended Chabad of Augusta.
Services for Maxie are Tuesday, December 6, at 2:00 PM at Magnolia Cemetery, Rabbi David Sirull officiating.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Maxie’s memory to Adas Yeshurun Synagogue, 935 Johns Rd, 30904 or Chabad of Augusta, 3924 Old Furys Ferry Rd, Augusta, GA 30907.
The family thanks those who helped Maxie and the family: Dr. William Wylie, Joyce Moog, Debra Glover, Virginia Anderson, and Regency Hospice.
To-morrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.
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