Cecil “Max” Burch died on Feb. 9, 2026 at his home in Hermiston at the age of 77.
He was born on Jan. 2, 1949 in Eugene to Cecil and Beatrice Ferguson Burch.
Beatrice died when Max was very young. Max went to be fostered by his uncle (Miles Milton Burch) and his aunt (Ethel Irene (Olson) Burch when he was around 6 years old. He lived in Seal Rock for most of his school years, graduating from Waldport High School. He joined the Marine Corps (1968-1970). He served in Vietnam as a radioman, dealing often with top-secret messaging.
After leaving the Marines, Max moved to Eugene and met Marianne Hubler in 1971. They married on May 18, 1972. He joined the Coast Guard and they moved to Elizabeth City, N.C., where he was a helicopter mechanic and air and sea rescue crewman. Max had a commercial pilot’s license and bought a 1946 Taylorcraft. They had a daughter, Samantha, on Sept. 21, 1974. Max loved being a father. Max would fly the three of them to different places along the East Coast.
After leaving the Coast Guard, they moved to Yachats and adopted a brother and sister, Shane Anthony (4 years old; he was killed at age 19 in 1995 in a car wreck) and Shannon (2 years old). The family moved to Monmouth. Max later worked at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany as an HVAC mechanic and later as an electronics environmental controls tech for Oregon DAS in Salem. In 1999, Max and Marianne moved to Hermiston. The girls had married and were living on their own. Samantha gave them two beautiful granddaughters, Nicole and Joy, who later married. Joy made Max a great-grandpa by having Nora Anne in 2025.
Max was an electronics security tech at Two Rivers Correctional Institution and finished up his career in IT there, retiring in 2012. Max loved the woods, hunting, collecting and rebuilding antique firearms, and building black powder pistol and rifle kits.
Max became a Christian in his 20s and loved his God and his family above all else. He and Marianne were married 53 years. Most everyone who met Max thought him a kind, caring, humorous, and gentle man. He will be greatly missed, but he is in Heaven with Jesus where there is no pain or sorrow.
He is survived by his wife, Marianne; oldest daughter and son-in-law, Samantha and David Breshears; youngest daughter and son-in-law, Shannon and Chad Blevins; oldest granddaughter and her husband, Nicole and Colton Katsel; youngest granddaughter and husband Joy and Nathaniel Farris; Max’s great-granddaughter, Nora; plus many other family members and friends who love him.
A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 at 11 a.m. at the Stanfield Baptist Church.
Please share memories of Max with his family at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com.
Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in care of arrangements.
