John Max Bauer, 83, of Springfield, passed away in the early-morning hours of Sunday, Feb.16, 2020. He passed peacefully at the end, after long, valiant battles with COPD, Congestive Heart Failure and numerous other heart and lung related ailments and their complications.
John was born in New Haven, Conn. and raised in and around Noti, Ore., later moving to the Eugene/Springfield area, where he resided until his passing.
He had been both married and divorced twice, first to Barbara, then Sandra, whose son, Dereck, he adopted and lovingly, if sternly, raised as his own.
He worked in the roofing industry his entire adult life until an accident and health issues forced his medical retirement. His fellow roofers and former co-workers always held a special place in his life.
In later life he had gone back to school through Lane Community College pursuing a GED until worsening health made it impossible for him to continue. He loved hunting, fishing and — though he complained about it — cutting firewood.
He also loved what he always referred to as “outlawing,” hunting and fishing slightly outside the strict legal limits, but he came from a time when feeding the family during the lean times of the roofing year necessitated it.
He related several times that he would make a “great” game warden because he knew all the tricks and would know how to catch other “outlaws” who poached for trophies versus sustenance. There were few things which made him madder than an animal wasted by someone only taking a “rack” as a trophy.
He is survived by his sons, Dereck and Brian; brother, Peter Bauer; sister, Cherry Bauer; four grandchildren, Jennifer, Collette, Crystal (Christine’s daughters) and Jessica (Dereck’s daughter); four great-grandchildren (from Jennifer and Crystal). He was preceded in death by his parents, Ferdinand and Dorothy (Toubondt) Bauer; a brother, Robert Brown; and a daughter, Christine.
In accordance with his wishes there will not be a memorial. “Don’t make a fuss, when I’m gone I’m gone” was his standard emphatic conclusion of that conversation.
