Donald Max Spaur

In Loving Memory of Donald "Max" Spaur Born: January 12, 1937 - Passed: May 10, 2025 It is with great sorrow, we announce the passing of Donald "Max" Spaur. Max, as he was known to all close to him, and even those who just met him, left us on Saturday morning, May 10, 2025. Max was born to Reese and LaVerne Spaur on January 12, 1937. He was born on a cold winter day on a farm outside Bussey, Iowa. There was so much snow on the day he was born; you could not see the fence posts in the yard outside the house. When Max was 11, the family sold the farm, moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and became city people. In the summer of 1952, Max met Kay Olson. They started walking to and from school together, and after two years, they married. Max started working at Interstate Baking Co., and after they closed the Des Moines branch, they transferred him to the bakery in Omaha. His career as a baker began, and he retired 33 years later, working in the bakery industry for 33 years. Max worked at the bakery in Omaha for six years, and then, in 1963, he moved the family to Denver, Colorado. The family had grown to six: Max, Kay, Randy, Cindy, Brenda, and Todd. After moving to Colorado, they embraced the Colorado lifestyle of going to the mountains and enjoying all that Colorado had to offer, including riding motorcycles all over the state. Max also developed a love for American Indian culture. He would search out different objects that depicted Indian culture. One of his biggest desires was Indian whiskey decanters. Whenever he found one of these during his travels, he would pick it up until his collection grew to dozens of statues. His collection is impressive. Max started working for bakeries in Colorado, such as Butternut Bakery, and in the spring of '76, he went to work at King Soopers Bakery. After his divorce, he met another divorcee, the love of his life, Carol Jo Petrillo, whom he affectionately called CJ. Max and CJ worked together in the bakery at King Soopers and soon began dating. On August 16, 1982, they were married. Max and CJ enjoyed doing things in Colorado, like target shooting in the mountains outside Denver. They especially liked traveling to Central City and Fall River Road, cutting firewood, and 4-wheeling. They loved visiting Indian shops and adding to their now jointly owned Indian decanter collection. Then in 1987, Max learned he could retire early because of a new contract signing with his union, so at 50 years old, they decided to retire. Max asked CJ, "Would you like to live where there is no snow?" And she said yes, so in May of 1987, they loaded up the truck and moved to Las Vegas. Both of them worked in casinos and enjoyed living in Las Vegas. They enjoyed many things together, especially going to Indian Powwows and buying more whiskey decanters. After living in Las Vegas for 12 years, they decided to retire, quit their jobs, and move to Pahrump, Nevada. They bought a home in which they would retire and spend the next 24 years. In 2023, however, they soon realized that they could use help with their daily duties. CJ's daughter and son-in-law invited them to move into their home in Mustang, Oklahoma, and with the help from their family they moved in April 2023. After spending about a year with Ann and Jeff, it became apparent that they still needed more assistance, as Ann was dealing with her health issues. So, with the help of their family, they moved to an assisted living apartment in the town of Rangely, Colorado, where Carol's daughter Sandy and her husband John lived, in August of 2025. They were greeted by Eagle Crest's director, Tammy, and assistant director, Crystal, who quickly grew to become dear friends. Max and CJ's life became a bit easier as a lot of their personal and physical needs were being met. But it was still difficult for them, moving to a new place, giving up some personal space, and dealing with constant health issues. But they seemed to start fitting in with their new lifestyle, making new friends and learning new routines. They endeared themselves to the caretakers at Eagle Crest. We all knew how Max loved to tease the ones he cared about, and the staff was not spared. Max made it his mission to get to know all the residents, and he made friends with everyone, even in a couple of difficult cases. However, CJ's health continued to decline. After a few weeks' stay in the hospital, with no improvement, she was admitted to the long-term care unit. It was difficult on both to not be together in their home. On March 5, 2025, she passed. Max was devastated as they had been married for 43 years, and the last 4 years or more, he had been her primary caregiver. He spent the previous days of CJ's life sitting next to her in her room at the hospital, talking to her and hoping she would get better. CJ's death deeply saddened Max, but he still tried to go on with his life. Max was also dealing with some of his own health problems, he had been diagnosed with liver cancer and was given only several months to live. His life was cut shorter however, and he passed away on Saturday May 10, 2025. Max was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters, Nonna, and Bonnie, his daughters, Cynthia Davidson, Brenda Soderstrom, and his stepdaughter, Dina Petrillo. Max is survived by his sister Judy Bates, two sons Randy, (Carolyn), Todd,(Carla), his grandchildren, Kate, (Ron) DeVore, Kelsy (Rishi), Khanna, Ben (Brandi) Davidson, Kindra (Pat), Myers, Heath,(Brade), Kyle (Amanda), and Jerred Soderstrom, Amy, Ashley, and Jamie Spaur. Max is also survived by CJ's daughters, Sandy (John) Payne, and Ann (Jeff) Johannes, step grandchildren Christopher Heuschkel, Jennifer (Matt) Noel, Jason (Amy) Payne, along with many great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends. At Max's request, no funeral services are scheduled. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.