Max Albert Makich died on Sunday, May 14, 2023, in Glasgow, Montana after a long illness.
Max was born in Great Falls, Montana, on July 12, 1932. His mother, Mary Landa, had immigrated as a girl to Montana from Bohemia to homestead with her family at Coffee Creek. His father, Mike Makich (born Metrovich), had immigrated from Montenegro and was the section foreman in the town of Square Butte for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. He had one older sister, Marcella. The communities and geography of Montana, and the history and lively incidents of the Milwaukee Road, were central to his life, as were the work ethic and stoicism of his parents.
He attended Square Butte and Geraldine schools as a child. After two years at the College of Great Falls, he transferred to the University of Montana to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy in 1955, earning tuition by shoveling coal for the Milwaukee Road. He was an outstanding and precise student. He followed his degree with an internship at Tork’s Drug in Glasgow before spending two years as a medic in the Army at Fort Lewis in Washington.
Max started his own pharmacy at the Smith Clinic in Glasgow, which later moved downtown and was a mainstay business in Valley County until 1999. He provided dedicated, compassionate and meticulous care to patients in Valley County and beyond for more than 40 years.
Max married Kathleen Owen in 1967. She survives him, as does their daughter Ann and her son Charles, of M
