World War I
Max Valentine Kiichler was born at Humphrey on June 2, 1894. His parents, Karl and Pauline, had each come from Germany, met and married here. They found it hard to master the English language, so they spoke mostly German in their home and their children learned to speak both English and German. This was a great asset to Max in later years.
When Max was about six years old, his family moved to a farm in Knox County. This is where he went to country school and grew up with his siblings. He had four brothers — Karl, Paul, Otto and Louis, and two sisters — Bertha and Pauline. His parents also raised their niece and Karl’s cousin Anna Rothley after her mother died.
In 1917, at the age of 22, Max enlisted in the Army and entered World War I. According to the information in the Osmond Centennial Book, he received his basic training at Camp Funston in Kansas and was then shipped to Germany and served as a medic in a field hospital on the front line.
When the armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918,
and the war ended, Max was reassigned to police duty, helping with “cleanup” operations. This was a time Max remembered fondly. Because he had learned to speak German as a child, he got to know the local people very well. He became friends with them and was invited into their homes.
The centennial book went on to say however, that Max never spoke to his family about the horrors of war he had seen and experienced as an Army medic, or the hardships he and the other soldiers endured. When asked, his answer to any questions was “I hope my sons and grandsons never have to see and live through what I have seen and lived.”
I found Max on the passenger list of soldiers returning from Europe on the S. S. Agamemnon on May 16, 1919.
When Max returned from the war, according to the 1920 U.S. Census, he and brother Louis were living and farming with their other brother Otto and his wife, as well as their cousin Otto Rothley.
Max and Louis later formed a partnership, farming and raising cattle. The centennial book says they developed very respectable reputations as cattlemen and were known as the “Kiichler Brothers.” They were well-known throughout the state by cattle buyers.
In 1941, Max was featured in an article in the "Omaha World-Herald," entitled “Genius at Management.”
Max married Frieda Meyer in 1937 when he was 43 years old. They made their home in the Osmond area where they farmed for most of their married life. He and Frieda had six children: Roger and wife Sandra, Marlene and husband Larry Wacker, Dean and wife Charlotte, Myron and wife Sherry, Deborah and husband Larry Beutler, and Kim and husband Daryl Kollars.
Max died of a heart attack on Dec. 10, 1964. Services were held at the Osmond Presbyterian Church, with military honors and salute conducted at the graveside by Norman Blunck, the 1964-65 Legion commander. Max is buried in the Osmond city cemetery about halfway up the hill to the right, on the far north side.
