Max Ernest Mugge

Max Ernest Mugge, of Cleghorn, Iowa, passed away on December 5, 2022, at the age of 89. After suffering a heart attack, he died peacefully at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, in Des Moines, Iowa, surrounded by his loving family.

Max Ernest Mugge was born to Lester and Edith Mugge on July 19, 1933, in Liberty Township, on the family farm where he would live and work all of his life. He married Lorene Jones on December 9, 1951, and together they raised six children: Curt, Grant, Gwynne, Beth, Brian, and Karen.

As a farmer, Max produced grain and hay crops, continued to improve the herd of registered purebred Aberdeen Angus beef cattle that his father had established in 1929 that evolved into L. O. Mugge and Son Angus and then Mugge Angus with his son and grandson, and continued to make farm improvements and additions. He received an award for 54 years of Angus production with the centennial of the American Angus Association in 1983. He was given a Century Farm award at the Iowa State Fair in 1982, presented by the Iowa Department of Agriculture.

Max had a lifelong commitment to conserving the farmland of his native Iowa. For thirty years, he served as a commissioner of the Cherokee County Soil and Water Conservation District at a time when many farms were transformed by conservation efforts.

Max was a board member at his church, the Cleghorn Christian Church. A lifelong builder and fixer of things, he found a special satisfaction in the monumental task of restructuring and restoring the aging church building.

Max was an inquisitive person who enjoyed traveling with Lorene to many locations both at home and abroad. He was a family man who loved playing games and solving puzzles with his many grandchildren. He was an avid reader. He had an impish sense of humor, a loving heart, and an indomitable will, which helped him through more than one miraculous recovery from injury. He was devoted to the care of the cats on his farm, and most typically spent the evening with one of them on his lap.

 Max is survived by his wife, Lorene; sister, Laurel Barnhart; children, Curt (Debra) Mugge, Grant Mugge, Beth (Eckart) Meiburg, Brian (Carol) Mugge, Karen (Andrew) Grimmer; son-in law, Bill Lehr; thirteen grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lester and Edith Mugge; sister, Faye Maass; and daughter, Gwynne Lehr.

The funeral service for Max will be held on Saturday, December 10, at 2:00 p.m., at Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home, 216 S. Second Street, Cherokee, Iowa, 51012. Prior to the service, there will be a public visitation, from 12:30 p.m. until start of the funeral.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Iowa division of the Nature Conservancy, at www.nature.org. Contact information: 515.244.5044 or iowa@tnc.org

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