Max Lilly

(From Daniel Funeral Home)

Kenneth Max Lilly, age 82, of Lamar, passed away late Saturday evening, August 8, 2015.

Max was born July 13, 1933 on a farm northwest of Jasper, Missouri, the youngest child of William Jewel and Reva (Ingles) Lilly. He moved with his family to Lamar in 1948 and graduated from Lamar High School in 1951. While in school, Max worked at the Plaza Theater and was one of the first hired at the new Barco Drive-In. Later he worked for F.M. Thorpe Company, Caterpillar Company and Shell Pipeline. Max served in the U.S. Army from 1953 through 1955. Returning home, he worked at Lawn-Boy until 1960. In 1961, Max and his wife, Patti, started Lilly’s Department Store which they operated until retiring in 1985.

On April 5, 1953, Max married his high school sweetheart, Patti Horton, and she survives, of the home. Also surviving are two sisters, Helen Rogers of Mission, Kansas and Dorothy McCoy of Springfield, Missouri; two daughters, Lisa Blanchard and friend, Jorge, of Omaha, Nebraska, and Debbie (Terry) Quick of Springfield; a grandson, David Blanchard of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; three granddaughters, Melaine Blanchard of Baton Rouge, Aimee (Adam) Shelton of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and Lauren Quick of Evanston, Illinois; a great-grandson, Ian Shelton and a great-granddaughter, Ava Shelton, both of Bartlesville. Max was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Wayne Lilly.

Always community-minded, Max had been a member of Lamar Rotary for 27 years and was awarded the Paul Harris Foundation medal. He served on the first United Way Drive, the first swimming pool committee, and the Senior Citizens Housing Board. Max was a charter member of Lamar Elks Lodge where he loved playing pitch with his many Elk brothers.

A graveside funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, August 13th at Lake Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. until service time Thursday at Daniel Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Lamar Elks Lodge.