Obituary for Max

Max Thelen, Jr. passed away on February 13, 2014, peacefully at home, in the loving embrace of his family. Max was a gentleman, loved, admired and respected by a wide circle of personal friends and devoted colleagues. He was a kind and generous husband, father, brother, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was a contemporary man who also represented the best of his era, providing for future generations, putting family first, and dynamically engaging in community, country, and global concerns.

Max was born in Berkeley, August 18, 1919, to Max and Ora Thelen. On his maternal side, the family had been in California since the 1850s. Max graduated top of his class at Berkeley High, and took his B.A. in economics from Cal in 1940, where he was again valedictorian. He joined the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and maintained close ties with his frat brothers throughout his life.  Max always spoke with tremendous fondness of his time at Cal and the life-long friends that he made there.

Max entered Harvard Law School, but the start of WWII found him eager to serve his country. He joined the U.S. Navy, and after Officer training in the V7 Program, was deployed on the destroyer, USS Heermann, as a Lieutenant in the Pacific. Max was a man of few words regarding his time in the war, but he was proud to have served in and survived several major campaigns, including the battles of Tarawa, Samar, and San Bernardino Strait.

After the war, he completed Harvard Law School and joined Thelen, Marrin, Johnson, and Bridges, in San Francisco. Max was a successful trial attorney with a focus in corporate law. The firm thrived during his partnership, and Max was highly respected and known to be a generous and astute mentor.

Max met Phyllis Barnhill through their mutual support of the United World Federalists, sharing an ardent commitment to a stronger U.N., hoping to prevent future wars. They married in 1952 and started their family in San Francisco, but early on moved to San Rafael, where they raised four children. Max and Phyllis continued their San Francisco friendships after moving to Marin, sharing travel and summer camp at Lair of the Bear for many years.

Max encouraged Phyllis’ community activities and arts interests and provided hands-on support in advisory, legal, and financial roles. Marin Ballet Association and Art Works Downtown both thrived under their founding and sustaining support. With the aggressive fund-raising efforts of Max and Phyllis, both organizations were able to buy their own facilities, securing their futures and allowing resources to be directed to valuable programming.

During his law career, Max was very active as a trustee and president for the World Affairs Council and the S. H. Cowell Foundation. Additionally, Max was a member of various legal and international organizations, including San Francisco Committee on Foreign Relations, World Trade Club, and Marines Memorial.  He was a Director for the Commonwealth Club, Salvation Army, and The Guardsmen.

After retiring from the law firm, Max became the Executive Director of the Cowell Foundation. Max expanded its reach beyond Northern California to include developing democracies in the Pacific Rim. Global issues had increasingly become of concern to Max, so at Cowell he funded highly successful family planning programs in Mexico and the Philippines. His major initiative, the three “Ps,” empowered agencies working for Peace, Population, and the Philippines.

In 2002, together with his wife, Max was graduation speaker at Dominican University, and was granted an honorary Ph.D. in recognition of his service to the international community. In 2009, Max was recognized Citizen of the Year by the city of San Rafael.

In 2006, Max and Phyllis moved from their San Rafael home to Smith Ranch Homes Community. There, he was able to continue life-long friendships and remained extremely vital and outgoing. Max was forever engaging, kind, brilliant, and charming.

The brightest light in Max’s life was his wife, Phyllis. He always encouraged her to pursue her visionary goals, to become a recognized artist and an honored community leader. He found tremendous joy and pride in his four children, and he supported and inspired his grandchildren to be life-long learners.

Max was pre-deceased by his sister, Ora Gillingham and his brother, Henry Thelen. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis, his sister, Dorothy Clemens, and his children Nancy Rehkopf of San Rafael, Jane Greene of Novato, Max Thelen, III of San Rafael, and Bill Thelen of Corvallis, Montana, and their respective spouses, Jim Rehkopf, Holt Greene, Dana Thelen and Dawn Marie Thelen. He is also survived by his twelve grandchildren: Natalie Mendes, Brian and Max Rehkopf; Holt, Burch, Genevieve and Bonnell Greene; Peter, Ross and Paige Thelen; and William and Miles Thelen. Additionally, he is survived by great-grandchildren Leora Greene and Theodore Thelen.

A Memorial Service will be held at The Clubhouse at Peacock Gap Country Club on Friday, March 7, from 2:00 to 4:30. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be offered to the Max Thelen, Jr. Leadership Award at Cal,  Attn: Joani Carpenter, Cal Alumni Association, 1 Alumni House, Berkeley, CA 94720; the World Affairs Council of Northern California, at worldaffairs.org; or Art Works Downtown, 1337 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA 94901.

6 thoughts on “Obituary for Max”

  1. Max Thelen was a very special person: highly successful in his chosen profession, idealistic about the need to build a better future for our society and the world, and continuously active in putting his energies and resources behind efforts to realize those ideals, Memories of Max serve as exemplars for younger generations. May we all try to live up to his standards.

    George W. Breslauer
    Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
    UC Berkeley

  2. We at Art Works Downtown will be forever indebted to Max Thelen for all he accomplished, and for all he contributed to the establishment and perpetuation of AWD over nearly twenty years.
    Max was a personal friend to many of us, and our mentor and advisor as well. We are all indebted to him, and celebrate the fact that we were fortunate to have him touch our lives in so many ways.
    Immense gratitude from all at AWD who knew him, and our heartfelt condolences to the Thelen Family. Our art community, along with the world community, have lost an immense figure.

  3. Thanks, Phyllis, for letting me know. At 94, Max had had an unusually long, successful and service-oriented life. We met nearly 30 years ago, when both of us were pursuing the effort to bring others to recognize the dangers of continuing human population growth. He was still at it as late as last year, and he was right.

    I knew we shared a lot of things, but I learned some others from your memorial note. We both served on destroyers in the Navy in World War II, but he was a Lt. and I was only an Ensign. Ah, seniority! And your World Federalist connections remind me of Hugh Nash, who was a leader in the movement and taught at Deep Springs College when I was there.

    My condolences and warm greetings go with you and the family. Lindsey Grant, 2-22-14.

  4. Max was a friend and colleage for over 20 years on the board of the S.H. Cowell Foundation. He served as president of the Foundation for nearly 30 years. He was a passionate and conscientious philanthropist, sensitive to the interests of the Cowell family, diligent in checking on the performance of our grantees, and judicious in conserving and investing Foundation assets. Max used to say that “no one ever went to heaven for giving Mr. Cowell’s money away.” But Max did a lot of good for a lot of people.

  5. What a great man, great family and a life well lived! We still think about climbing ladders at Macy’s to salvage light fixtures only to have Paul discover that they were still energized. We enjoyed the volunteer work with Max, and remember collaborating to buy the building for AWD. He was generous with his appreciation of life and his love for Phyllis.