Max Van Pelt

Max Van Pelt went into the presence of His Lord on April 8, 2018. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 13th, at the First Baptist Church. Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. Thursday at the church. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com . Memorials may be directed to his family. The Mitchell Family Funeral Home is caring for Max and his family. Ph. 641-844-1234. Max Van Pelt, age 73, was born to Richard and Florence Van Pelt in San Diego, California. At the age of 1 his family moved to Chariton, Iowa. At the age of 6 his family moved to Marshalltown, where he resided the rest of his life. Max attended the Marshalltown public schools and graduated from Marshalltown High School in 1963. He was employed at Fisher Controls for over 36 years in various areas, retiring from there in 1999. On December 19, 1966 Max married his one and only love, Sherry (Sheryl) Duhn. He was inducted in to the U.S. Army in August of 1966 and honorably discharged in August of 1968. He was in the reserves until August of 1970. In March 1967 Sherry joined Max in Germany where Max was stationed with the Artillery Unit. He received his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO and then stationed in Fort Sill, OK to continue training in the Artillery Unit. From there he was deployed to Germany where he trained for maneuvering and driving tanks. His unit was on high alert at all times while in Germany meaning his unit was prepared to be transported to Vietnam at any time. Max was first and foremost a husband, a dad to three children, and a grandpa to three. They were his life. He so cherished the family vacations that the family took first when the children were little and later as grandchildren started to come along. He attended all of his children’s and grandchildren’s activities. Many memories have been made and were cherished by Max as well as by his family. There are volumes of picture albums for proof. As stated he worked at Fisher Controls, where he earned an award for developing a safety strap for the company. After he retired from Fisher Controls, he worked as a custodian for his church for several years. To him it was a service to His Lord rather than a job. He then started working with his son-in-law mowing lawns commercially in and around the Marshalltown area and successfully did this for 15 years before his health no longer allowed him to do so. Once again, he enjoyed meeting and working with the people he met while mowing “his yards.” He and Sherry also worked as property managers at Crestview Apartments after retiring from their jobs which they once again saw as a loving service to people because they enjoyed the seniors that lived there and helped assist them. One of his favorite volunteer jobs was for over 22 years as the equipment manager at the Marshalltown Little League. This was back when each boy was given a complete set of uniform items and needed to be kept track as well as other items that were handed out to each player. He enjoyed meeting the players and many of these now men (boys) to this day still remember him. He was a member of the First Baptist Church since 1977 where he was a past Trustee, past Head Usher, led Bible studies with his wife, and volunteered in kitchen duties on Wednesday nights, maintenance and wherever needed. He had a big heart and would help anyone who needed his assistance. He enjoyed collecting Pepsi items, working on his old 1967 Plymouth dodge car, and Ford tractor. Many will remember him before days of computerized Christmas lights as Mr. Christmas because of his elaborate outside Christmas display. People would come from even out of state to see his different displays each year. He always said that this was his Christmas present to the community. Others will remember him for his many pranks he would like to pull on people as he loved “getting people.” It put a smile on his face. Max is survived by his wife of 51 years, Sherry; his three children: Michelle (David) Grewell, Mark (Heather) Van Pelt, and Michael Van Pelt; Max’s three grandchildren, Cole, Sydney and Jacob; his three sisters, Pauline Smith, Nancy (Fred) Adams, and Carol Maxfield; and sister-in-law LeAnn (Denny) Brewer and brothers-in-law Harold (Julie) Duhn, Alan (Sheila) Duhn, and Lynn (Deb) Duhn, and several nephews and nieces; and many other family members. He was preceded in death by his parents, Richard and Florence Van Pelt, and in-laws, Harry and Angeline Duhn and grandchildren Conner and Jacy Grewell and a niece Jill Brewer.