Max Rose

I arrived home from Capitol Reef around 4:15 Tuesday afternoon. Just in time to take a shower, change clothes, and pack for a quick trip to St. George. I know your thinking, "are you crazy, go to St. George this time of year"!
We left Provo about 5:30 pm and stopped for a quick bite by the mall. Then we were onto the Freeway and headed south. The temperatures where above 100. Thank heavens for air conditioned cars. We arrived in St. George just before 10 pm. The temperature in the parking lot of the hotel was 102 and you could really feel the heat radiating off the black top.
The reason for this trip was the funeral of one of Susie's dear friends and colleagues at Dixie State University, Max Rose.

Max Rose was a professor of Chemistry and Mathematics at Dixie State College when Susie taught there. They had offices right next to each other for a time and became great friends. Mas was an engaging personality and loved a practical joke. He attended high school at Bryce High school in Henryville, UT. To show how smart he was he took a calculus class via correspondence. When he took the final exam he scored so high the people in Cedar City determined he must have cheated so they sent a proctor to Henryville to make Max repeat the exam. Of course he passed it again with basically the same score.
One of my favorite stories from Max's past involved a member of the faculty who was quite anti-Mormon. The local newspaper had run an article about a new bishopric being called in one of the wards in St. George. Max cut and pasted the photo of the professor over the photo of the new bishop and then changed the caption so it read as if the professor had been sustained as the new bishop. Then the made several copies and put one in each of the mailboxes of the teachers in the department. That created quite a stir.
Max later served as the Academic Vice President for the University and then as Superintendent of the Washington School District for 11 years. He was also Stake President for the University Student stake.
The funeral was well attended and Susie was able to see many old friends from her days in St. George. We were able to have lunch with the Gillilands on our way out of town. We were back in Provo around 6 pm, just in time to start packing for our vacation trip to Alaska.