Maxime Joseph Derbes III – 50th Reunion Essay

Maxime Joseph Derbes III

Date of Death: 13-Feb-2008

College: Trumbull

(This memorial appeared in the May/June 2008 Class Notes.)

Max Derbes III passed away on February 13, after a long bout with renal carcinoma. Max majored in AdSci at Yale, was captain of the Yale judo team, and won the Connecticut State Judo Championship in 1968. Steve Bemis, who attended the funeral, writes: “Max was the premier commercial/industrial realtor in New Orleans, until very near the end. I don’t think any of us who kept in touch with Max these last years will forget his courage, optimism, strength, and faith in the face of a daunting illness. His life’s love, Julie (whom he married before we graduated), his children, and grandchildren lost a great man, and the class is diminished measurably with his passing.” Mabry Rogers also attended the funeral, and writes: “Jeanne and I saw him often after Yale, and we spent a wonderful weekend with them at the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Eve 1978. He was the great bear then as I perceived him to be while we lived our shortest, gladdest years. He told me that Yale had not been for him the experience he had hoped for, yet, at his funeral, we learned that he loved to break into his rendition of ‘Boola Boola’ at the office. He was obviously a complex, brave, successful person, by every measurement.”

Terry Light, another Trumbull roommate, writes: “Max was a wonderful person from day one of our freshman year. He could always laugh at himself…Max learned of his recurrent illness within months of his parents’ separate deaths and Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of his beloved New Orleans. He simply pushed on, making the most of time with friends and family in spite of the great physical toll of his advancing disease. In fact, Max demonstrated an extraordinary concern for others throughout his illness. He was a wonderful friend to all who knew him, courageous, faithful, and loving.”