Max Corey

Jan 23, 1949 -

May 19, 2025

Max Riley Corey passed away on May 19, 2025, at Providence Hospital. He was 76 years old. Max was born on Jan. 23, 1949, in Montrose, Colo.

Max lived many places growing up, including Colorado, California, Japan and Bolivia. Max graduated from Redondo Union High School in 1967. He then enlisted in the Navy in 1968, when the rest of his family moved to Alaska. He served aboard a destroyer, the USS Hugh Purvis, during the Vietnam War from 1968-1972. There he worked as a Machinist Mate, 3rd Class, on the destroyer's boilers.

After honorary discharge from the Navy, Max came to Alaska where he lived for the rest of his life, except for a period of about 15 years when he lived in Marcellus, Mich. When Max first came to Alaska he went to A&P mechanic school in Anchorage, obtaining his A&P Mechanic Certification. He worked as an A&P mechanic for most of his life, including working for Kermit Weeks restoring vintage Ford 4-AT Trimotor aircraft in Michigan.

Max was a multi-talented individual who as a child was always building things out of wood and metal and plastic and construction sets like Tinker Toys. He could fix mechanisms like clocks at the age of 8! In the early '80s he took classes at Anchorage Community College - now UAA - including many art classes, and he continued to take various art classes throughout his life. He was an accomplished artist creating many handmade prints, drawings and paintings of horses, dogs, wild animals and railroad trains and equipment. He could draw almost anything and his attention to detail was unparalleled. He won the Peoples Choice Award and the Juried Art Award at the Alaska State Fair in the 80s, as well as winning the drawing award and being featured in the All Alaska Juried Art Exhibition at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art.

Max's specialty was creating models, especially those of trains and airplanes. He was considered one of the best by other model builders. The intricacy and accuracy of his models was unmatched by others. Over the years he made several museum quality models and dioramas for various museums around Alaska, including the Alpine Heritage Museum and Cultural Center, the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the Dorothy Page Museum, the Knik Dog Mushing Museum, the Potter Section House Museum, the Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry and the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. Some of his models and dioramas are still on display in these museums! Max also made a variety of exceptionally accurate planes out of ivory which he sold to various people around Alaska.

Max was an instrumental member of the Northern Lights Model Railroad Club and was an active member of the Alaska Great Dane Club. His artwork was featured on the cover of two Great Dane Quarterly magazines. Max loved horses and dogs and usually had at least one … of each!

Max was preceded in death by his mother, Dona Corey. Surviving members of his family include his father, Don Corey; sister, Maryann DePriest (husband Gerry); nephew, Kaleb DePriest; and life partner, Kevin Johnsen; as well as his dog, Kline.

The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m., on Friday, May 30, 2025, at Ft. Richardson National Cemetery.