[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   MAX LYON--DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE FAIRBANKS NORTH STAR 
                                BOROUGH

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 2005

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to note the passing of 
a fine man, long-time Alaskan Max Lyon. Max was from Fairbanks, where 
he was the Director of Transportation for the Fairbanks North Star 
Borough. In this job, Max managed transportation and environmental 
issues for the Borough. He loved his job and did it well; he will be 
badly missed by his many friends and coworkers in Fairbanks.
  Max was born in 1947 in Owosso, Michigan, but he grew up in DeKalb, 
Illinois. He was an avid sportsman. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and 
flying, and was a life member and Board President of the Tanana Valley 
Sportsmen's Association. He was a devoted husband and father, a 
community leader, and a good friend to many long-time Fairbanksians.
  Before becoming an Alaskan, Max served his nation honorably in 
Vietnam. Immediately after graduation from high school, Max enlisted in 
the U.S. Air Force and was trained as a jet-engine mechanic. He was 
sent to Viet Nam where he was stationed at DaNang Air Base. During his 
tour in Viet Nam, Max volunteered his time to teach English to 
Vietnamese students and was known as ``Teacher'' to many of them. He 
received an honorable discharge in 1969.
  That year, Max went to work in Sycamore, Illinois, where he met his 
future wife, Diane Leonhard. They married on May 16, 1970. In 1973, Max 
went to work for American Transit, which in 1977 sent him on a 
temporary assignment to Fairbanks to establish their first city transit 
system. That was the company's big mistake. Max and Diane fell in love 
with Alaska, and at the end of the 18-month assignment, Max resigned 
from American Transit and stayed in his adopted home for the rest of 
his life.
  Over the next several years, Max worked as a mechanic and service 
manager on heavy duty trucks and then went to work for Dixon's Gun 
Shop. In 1982, Max bought the gun shop and owned it until 1985, when he 
sold it to build his dream house, a log home overlooking Fairbanks.
  The Borough hired Max as Assistant Transportation Director in 1989, 
and he soon was promoted to Transportation Director, a job he held 
under several Borough Mayors until his untimely death this past 
weekend. Max was a member of the Elks, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 
and was a life member of the National Rifle Association.
  Max loved the outdoors. It was what drew him to Alaska and kept him 
here. He loved his hunting and fishing camp near Kobuk, in interior 
Alaska; he spent as much time there in the Spring and Fall as he could. 
He also loved Baja California, where he planned to spend the winter 
months during a richly deserved retirement. He had just broken ground 
on a new house there.
  Most of all, Max loved his family--his wife, Diane; his children 
Kristine and Andrew; his grandchildren Jordan and Jack; his mother 
Marlene; and his siblings Terry, Tim, Peggy, Cheryl, Robin, and 
Melissa. Lu and I send our deepest sympathies to them in their hour of 
loss. We hope they are comforted by the memory of Max's very full life, 
and of his many friends and admirers. I consider myself one of them.

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