Max N. Coffman

Max N. Coffman, 87, a resident of Bettendorf, Iowa died Saturday, May 09, 2009 at Pathway Hospice at Terrace Park in Bettendorf.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 A. M. on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at the Asbury United Methodist Church, Bettendorf. Visitation will be held from 4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on Tuesday at the McGinnis-Chambers Funeral Chapel, Bettendorf. Burial will be in Davenport Memorial Park, Davenport. Memorials may be made to the Max Coffman Memorial fund at Asbury United Methodist Church.
Max was born to Dewy and Anna (Simmerine) Coffman on August 10, 1921 near Washington, Iowa. He lived some of his early life on his grandfather’s dairy farm. He went to work at a button factory in Washington where he met Beatrice Lehr who became his wife of 67 years. He helped build barracks in the army during WWII and then came to live in Bettendorf and work at the Rock Island Farmall Works. He stayed there for 31 years and became a master of many tasks and trades. At Farmall he lined blast furnaces with new fire brick, drove heavy equipment, did snow detail, finish carpentry, ect. For a while, he worked part time doing auto body work and painting cars. This led him to build a large cement block commercial building with his own auto body business in back behind a rented store front. This site later became home to Ross’ Maidrite.
Eventually, his side jobs evolved to buying and restoring wrecked cars, home remodeling, and building room additions as well as seven houses almost completely by himself. He also put block foundations under houses that had been moved and rescued several endangered or collapsing basements.
He and Beatrice have enjoyed membership at Asbury United Methodist Church in Bettendorf since its inception. He often volunteered there and has left his finishing touches around the building.
He retired from Farmall in his mid fifties, took a few guitar lessons and then spent much of his retirement years enjoying and performing bluegrass music. Many of the songs he knew were of a religious nature. He often performed them at area nursing homes as well as at bluegrass jams and festivals around the Midwest and during winters in Texas. Max and Beatrice enjoyed their church and bluegrass friends tremendously over the last 21+ years and have traveled extensively to follow bluegrass.
Max is survived by his wife, Beatrice; son Larry and his wife Connie; brother, John (Bobbie) Coffman in Davenport, and his granddaughter Jennifer in Chicago.
He was preceded in death by his parents, son Garry (Larry’s twin) and sister Irene.