Mary Maxine Pogreba

1924-2023

Maxine passed away on October 1, 2023.

Maxine was the fourth of nine children born to Willis and Bina Lane Albro. They were ranched and lived a mile west of Willow Creek, Montana.

Through 4H, Maxine learned sewing and gardening, both of which served her well as she became a talented seamstress and avid gardener. In school, she was active in gymnastics, basketball, skating and ballroom dancing, all of which she later encouraged in her children and grandchildren. She remained a fitness buss throughout her life.

She graduated from Willow Creek High School in 1942 and went to work at the Union Bank in Helena. Two years later she married her high school hero, Dean Pogreba, during World War II. On the many different bases they lived, Maxine worked as a secretary where Dean was a flight instructor. The war sent him overseas and she returned to her work at the bank in Helena. She saved all the money he sent home during the fourteen months he was gone then purchased their first house in Three Forks. Soon two children, son Larry, then daughter Karin. Life was good until Dean was recalled to the “police action” in Korea while Maxine and the children stayed in Three Forks.

After a year and one hundred missions, Dean was safely home. Their next assignment was Georgia, then Texas where daughter Beverly was born. A move to Las Vegas followed then a posh assignment as an exchange officer in England for two years and was Maxine’s favorite place the family lived. They traveled Europe and enjoyed great memories. Germany was next for two years and then it was back to the states.

The Vietnam Conflict was looming and in 1965, Dean was shot down and listed as “Missing in Action” then declared “Killed in Action” in 1978.

To get a new start, Maxine moved the family to Boulder, Colorado. She worked and attended classes at the University of Colorado and community college.

It was here she met her new husband, Bob Barrell. In the following years they traveled to the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti and many places in the South Pacific. Cancer claimed Bob in 1994.

Maxine is survived by three children and their spouses; Larry (Donna) Pogreba, Karin (Kevin) Shepherd; Beverly (Alex) Karami; three granddaughters, Lauri (Scott) Littlewood; Janaki (Jake) Kelly, and Angela Karami; four great grandchildren, Jackson and Colton Littlewood, and Bex and Precia Kelly.

No funeral services are planned. Cremation took place and Maxine’s ashes will be buried in Willow Creek Cemetery.