Max Neel Poffenbarger

Max Neel Poffenbarger, 78, of Frederick, Maryland passed away April 9, 2024, at his home.

Born July 6, 1945, in Farmville, Virginia, he was the son of the late Reese Poffenbarger and
Helen Neel Poffenbarger. He spent his youth on the family farm in Woodsboro, MD, which was
the perfect environment for him to master hands-on skills, develop a daring attitude, and feed a
curious mind. He had all kinds of adventures, from skating on the frozen pond to racing pony
buggies. He became a mechanical genius by disassembling and reassembling anything he could get his hands on and never shied away from peeking under a car’s hood.

A pivotal point in his life was his motorcycle trip around Europe and Africa in his early 20s. After that trip, he decided to start a family and pursue higher education.

Max married his high school sweetheart Margo and had two sons, Greg and Scott. With his
young family’s support, he graduated from the University of Maryland with Honors in 1971,
earning a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Education. He went on to graduate from the
University of Georgia as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. He returned to Frederick County and
started his own small animal veterinary clinic in Walkersville in 1983. He served the community
as a veterinarian for 20 years. During this time, he married his wife of 42 years, Barbara. They raised two daughters, Hope and Hanna, in the Walkersville community.

Max had a passion for craftsmanship. In addition to building the clinic, he renovated a turn of the century home in Walkersville, a Civil War era farmhouse and grist mill in Keymar and most
recently a historic home in downtown Frederick. In these projects, he worked relentlessly to rehabilitate historic features, settling for nothing short of impeccable quality.

It was fun talking to Max. He had the gift of wonder and loved ‘getting to the heart of it’ through conversation. If he was talking with you, he made you feel interesting.

He was a man in full. Although his vocation was veterinary medicine, he enjoyed construction,
farming, welding, computer science, government and politics, philosophy, nutrition, landscape
architecture, finances, and reflecting on the overall state of the world. At the end of the day, he liked learning and doing.

If you asked him, his favorite part of all this was sharing projects with others - whether it was
working with his wife to design a beautiful garden and patio, teaching the neighbors how to
make sourdough bread, or numerous hands-on projects with his children. He will be
remembered as a loving husband and father, and someone with a moral sense who looked for
the light in others and always did his best. Max Poffenbarger is dead, but he is missed. And his light will live on.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister Isabel Arrington.

Max is survived by his wife, Barbara, sons Greg Trexler (Kate Yang), Scott Trexler (Angie
Hartman); daughters Hope Poffenbarger, Hanna Poffenbarger (Jackson Osborne);
grandchildren Colette, Lily, Lincoln, Irene; siblings Helen Cover, William Poffenbarger, Anne Renninger, and John Poffenbarger.

The family wishes to thank the neighbors on Market Street and the doctors and staff at Frederick Health hospital and hospice for their attentive care during recent months. The family will receive friends at the Woodsboro Evangelical Lutheran Church on Friday, May 3, from 10 am to 11 am, with a memorial service promptly following. Virginia Cover will be officiating.

Max’s care has been entrusted to Black’s Funeral Home of Sabillasville, online condolences
www.blacksfuneralhomes.com.