Max Edward Travers

Max Edward Travers, 99 was the 7th of 8 children born to Michael & Rose Travers in Clark South Dakoda. Clark was a small farming town at that time and still is with a population that has unchanged over the past 100 years. Times were difficult which always meant that the family and farm always came first which explains why Max was only able to obtain a 9th grade education.

As the depression was coming to an end and WW-2 was looming on the horizon, the Travers Family began to migrate west to California. Max actually worked his way across the USA picking apples and other crops for pocket money to fund his trip. Knowing that his Aunt Minnie had a diner near Whittier, he pulled off the road and walked into a small establishment near the corner of what is now Norwalk Blvd. and Workman Mill Road in what is now Whittier to ask directions. Much to his surprise, this was actually his aunt's establishment. He was back with family again. After the war Max joined the rest of his family in Southern California, settling in South Gate where he lived until 2009 with his wife Linney Mae and his step son Jerry Evans.

Using skills he learned during the war as an aircraft machinist, Max started his long carrier in that trade working for companies like Rheem, Aerojet, and General Dynamics. There was plenty of overtime to put on the books, but Max found time to always have his own shop on the side. In fact he was still taking in jobs into the spring of 2008 at the age of 91!

Despite his lack of a formal education, Max always had ideas that he would sketch that he felt could make the world a better place. These items included a device to aid fire fighters in their entry of burning buildings, a perpetual motion machine to generate energy, a giant water wheel for electrical generation what was presented to the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, and a method of disrupting large tornadoes to help save lives. Max was a brilliant person and one of the last of the Greatest Generation.

Max resided in La Palma, California at the time of his passing. He is survived by Nephews Paul, James, Steve, and Chris Travers; nieces Lois Wren and Connie Brown, and grand uncle to John Melsheimer, Shawn Travers, and Gina Cortes.