Max Edward Vaughn

Max was born in Alva, Oklahoma in 1945 to Paul Eddie Vaughn and Nona Pearl Vaughn. The Vaughn family moved to Aspen in 1950, a change that Max was forever grateful for. He loved the high country, the hunting, fishing and chokecherry gathering (he was the master jelly maker in the Vaughn family) and knew the backcountry around Aspen like the back of his hand. Max was also a gardener at heart, raising a huge vegetable garden. He also put up hay at his small farm in Clifton when he wasn’t walking the banks of the Colorado, documenting wildlife on a daily basis through his photography.

Max graduated from Aspen High School in 1963, known for his hard hits on the football field, and in 1964 married Alice Martz, a native Aspenite. Max worked for the City of Aspen and was a member of the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department for ten years. Known as a straight-shooter with impeccable honesty, Max and Alice moved to Grand Junction in 1978, feeling Aspen might not be the best place to raise teenagers. It was tough on him to leave Aspen, but Max dug right in. He worked for the City of Grand Junction for 22 years, retiring as Construction Inspector for the Engineering Department.

Max had an abiding love for the town of Aspen and managed to keep a historical archive of newspaper clippings, photographs and other minutiae spanning a large part of Aspen’s history. He was an administrator of the Facebook page, “Aspen Before 1960,” a historical look into the past for all those who love Aspen. Max felt a responsibility to accurately report on the history of Aspen.

Max is survived by his wife, Alice; son Luke and daughter-in-law Cindie Vaughn of Grand Junction; daughter Julie Vaughn of Palisade, and sisters Roberta Lawrence of Grand Junction and June (Bill) Grove of Cortez, Colorado.

The family would like you to know that in some ironic way, there is a bit of comfort in knowing that Max was injured by an aspen tree (quakie to Max) while working in the high country. There is some sort of solace there, however small, knowing that Max went his way.

Services will be held Monday, July 11, 2016 at Martin Mortuary in Grand Junction.

Arrangements under the direction of Martin Mortuary, Grand Junction, CO.