McKee, Ernest Max
d. March 24, 2011
McKee, Ernest Max
Ernest Max McKee - age: 90
(September 11, 1920 to March 24, 2011 )
Resident of Ukiah, California
Obituary:
Ernest Maxwell McKee, Jr.
Ernest Maxwell McKee, Jr., known to family and friends as Max, died on Thursday, March 24 at home in Ukiah. Born September 11, 1920 in Eureka, Max had deep pioneer roots in Northern California. In the 19th Century, his grandfather Frank Hammond McKee settled on Bear Creek in Humboldt County; his maternal grandfather Albert Maxwell helped build the city of Mendocino; his mother, Norine, was the daughter of the Clark family, cattle ranchers in Petrolia.
As a teenager, Max hauled railroad ties near the little town of Branscomb, named for homesteader John Branscomb. Here Max courted John’s youngest daughter, Patricia Branscomb, and the couple’s marriage endured 70 years and produced four children. Max fought as an infantryman in Patton’s Third Army in Europe in World War II and turned to logging and timberland acquisitions in Mendocino County after the war. In the early fifties, with a gift for managing logging operations, he joined a strong partnership with businessman Bob Harrah and investor Earl Maize that lasted for years, forming the stud mill, FIRCO two miles north of Willits and purchasing Eden Valley Ranch in Round Valley.
When Frank and Vivian Crawford and Earl Maize were lost in a plane crash in Canada, Max donated men and equipment to build Earl Maize field at Willits High School in Maize’s honor. Over the years, Max McKee was involved in numerous land development projects with various partners, including his two sons, Fred Hammond McKee and Ralph Howard McKee, Sr. of Redwood Valley. Projects included the Pine Mountain subdivision in the 1960s, a large parcel of which Max donated to the San Francisco Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which was used to finance many future Boy Scout endeavors. Max’s development of land in Humboldt County and his generous terms of purchase contributed significantly to the back-to-the land movement of the 1970’s and 80’s. In the 1970s, Max became partners with Elmer Padula in an olive venture near Porterville in the southern central valley. Max is mourned by wife Patricia, daughters Judith Simpson of Missoula and Carolyn Gardner of Berkeley, and daughter-in-law Sandy McKee of Redwood Valley, and by twelve grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Five of his grandchildren put down roots in Mendocino County, including Ralph McKee, Jr., Kim McKee, Edward McKee, August McKee, and Bruce McKee. His other grandchildren settled in various parts of the West and Midwest from Alaska to Wisconsin, including Meredith Miller, Sarah Bass, Alec Miller, Jennifer Cinquini, Robin Freitham, and Nadia and Benjamin Gardner. A memorial service will be held at Eversole Mortuary on Thursday, March 31st at 1:00 p.m. Eversole is located at 141 Low Gap Road in Ukiah.
(September 11, 1920 to March 24, 2011 )
Resident of Ukiah, California
Obituary:
Ernest Maxwell McKee, Jr.
Ernest Maxwell McKee, Jr., known to family and friends as Max, died on Thursday, March 24 at home in Ukiah. Born September 11, 1920 in Eureka, Max had deep pioneer roots in Northern California. In the 19th Century, his grandfather Frank Hammond McKee settled on Bear Creek in Humboldt County; his maternal grandfather Albert Maxwell helped build the city of Mendocino; his mother, Norine, was the daughter of the Clark family, cattle ranchers in Petrolia.
As a teenager, Max hauled railroad ties near the little town of Branscomb, named for homesteader John Branscomb. Here Max courted John’s youngest daughter, Patricia Branscomb, and the couple’s marriage endured 70 years and produced four children. Max fought as an infantryman in Patton’s Third Army in Europe in World War II and turned to logging and timberland acquisitions in Mendocino County after the war. In the early fifties, with a gift for managing logging operations, he joined a strong partnership with businessman Bob Harrah and investor Earl Maize that lasted for years, forming the stud mill, FIRCO two miles north of Willits and purchasing Eden Valley Ranch in Round Valley.
When Frank and Vivian Crawford and Earl Maize were lost in a plane crash in Canada, Max donated men and equipment to build Earl Maize field at Willits High School in Maize’s honor. Over the years, Max McKee was involved in numerous land development projects with various partners, including his two sons, Fred Hammond McKee and Ralph Howard McKee, Sr. of Redwood Valley. Projects included the Pine Mountain subdivision in the 1960s, a large parcel of which Max donated to the San Francisco Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which was used to finance many future Boy Scout endeavors. Max’s development of land in Humboldt County and his generous terms of purchase contributed significantly to the back-to-the land movement of the 1970’s and 80’s. In the 1970s, Max became partners with Elmer Padula in an olive venture near Porterville in the southern central valley. Max is mourned by wife Patricia, daughters Judith Simpson of Missoula and Carolyn Gardner of Berkeley, and daughter-in-law Sandy McKee of Redwood Valley, and by twelve grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Five of his grandchildren put down roots in Mendocino County, including Ralph McKee, Jr., Kim McKee, Edward McKee, August McKee, and Bruce McKee. His other grandchildren settled in various parts of the West and Midwest from Alaska to Wisconsin, including Meredith Miller, Sarah Bass, Alec Miller, Jennifer Cinquini, Robin Freitham, and Nadia and Benjamin Gardner. A memorial service will be held at Eversole Mortuary on Thursday, March 31st at 1:00 p.m. Eversole is located at 141 Low Gap Road in Ukiah.
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