Francis "Max" Kritzer

Francis Max Kritzer came into this world in the front bedroom of a small white house on Jackson Branch Road February 6, 1931. He died January 15, 2014 having lived on the Branch his entire life. The son of Francis "Chris" Kritzer and Esther Campbell Kritzer, Max was an ornery ol' cuss who loved his family, his dog, and horses.

As a boy of nine, Max began working mowing yards for many Nashville residents. A meat cutter by trade, Max worked for Rhims"s IGA in Morgantown and the Star Store in Nashville before heading to McDonald's IGA in Bean Blossom. Anyone making the mistake of calling Max a butcher instead of a meat cutter soon learned the error of his ways as did anyone calling his ground beef "hamburger".

Max was ball manager for the basketball team, and played drums in the band before graduating from Nashville High School in 1949. He attended the Purdue extension in Columbus before he fell in love with and married Oma Jean Bond in 1952. She survives.

One of the founding members of the Nashville Volunteer Fire Department, Max's special job was to check bridges before the fire truck crossed. He helped organize the annual fish fry while Jean made the tartar sauce. Max was also a special deputy with the Brown County Sheriff's Department and a Deputy Conservation Officer for the State of Indiana for many years.

A lover of cowboys and horses, Max realized a life-long dream in 1975 when he bought his first horse. He and Keith Taggart enjoyed riding together. When it became too hard to climb into the saddle, Max enjoyed reading western novels and amassed quite a collection. An added benefit of horse ownership was the manure that fertilized the large garden put out by Max and Jean. Many family and friends have been recipients of their bounty. Max was also an avid Purdue basketball fan and sported a Purdue license plate on his Ford truck: Max only drove Fords.

Max was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Patti Lou Jackson; and son, Kendall Lee Kritzer.

He is survived by his wife, Oma Jean Bond ; his daughter, Kathryn 'Kaybe' (Talmadge) Evans; daughter-in-law Stephanie Porter Kritzer; grandchildren Kelly Evans (Ryan) Boyer of Eden Prairie, MN, Kathryn Evans (Todd) Van Pelt of Fairfield, IA, Kara Evans of Iowa City, IA, Kristopher (Nikki) Kritzer of Brownsburg, and Kaitlyn Kritzer; great grandchildren Caroline and Cormac Van Pelt and Evan and Fallon Boyer.

A funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 21 at the Bond-Mitchell Funeral Home with the Reverend John Parsley presiding, burial will follow in Bond Cemetery. Visitation will be Monday evening, January 20, from 4 - 8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, 2626 E. 17th Street, Columbus, IN 47201.

Online condolences may be left to the family at www.BondMitchellFuneralHome.com.