Max Queen
December 21, 1955 ~ March 29, 2022
Born in:
Oak Ridge, TN
Resided in:
Candler, NC
Clinton Maxwell “Max” Queen, 66, of Candler, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family in his home on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, following a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Born in Oak Ridge, TN, Max was a son of Bobbie R. Griffin and of the late Clinton Albert Queen.
Mr. Queen was a 1973 graduate of Enka High School. He joined the Buncombe County Ambulance Service in 1975 and was in the first daytime EMT Program at A-B Tech. Max completed the A-B Tech EMT-Intermediate program in 1977. He also graduated from the Associate Degree Nursing program at A-B Tech in 1979 and earned his Paramedic credential through the A-B Tech Associate Degree EMS program in 1982. Max became an adjunct instructor for the A-B Tech paramedic program and then quickly rose through the ranks at the college serving as Lead EMS Instructor, EMS Department Chair, Dean of Allied Health and Public Service, Vice President of Continuing Education and Work Force Development, and finally retiring from the college in 2012 as Vice President of Administrative Services. Max valued education and became a role model for lifetime learning, graduating with a BS in Health Services Management in 1988 and an MAEd in Educational Administration in the Two Year College in 1993, both from Western Carolina University.
Max was both a Charter Member and Lifetime Member of Enka-Candler Fire & Rescue, serving as an active Volunteer Firefighter and 1st Responder from 1986 – 2010. He served on the Board of Directors 1986 – 2018, including multiple terms as Chairman of the Board.
Mr. Queen has served as an elected member of the Buncombe County School Board since 2014.
Mr. Queen served the community on many boards and organizations, including: the A-B Tech Board of Trustees, Buncombe County Emergency Medical Services, School Capital Fund Commission for Buncombe County, Asheville Civic Center Commission, SECU Advisory Board, Council for Allied Health in NC, NC Association of Rescue and EMS, NC Paramedic Association, NC Association of EMS Curriculum Educators and Pole Creek Baptist Church.
In addition to his mother, Mr. Queen is survived by his wife, Janie McCracken Queen of the home, with whom they recently celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary; daughters, Charlotte Clubb (Tony) of Candler and Sarah Mills (Nick Morris) of Fairbanks, Alaska; son, Caleb Queen (Samantha) of Candler; grandchildren, Grant Hipps of Greensboro, Gracen Hipps of Candler, Taylor Queen and Audrey Queen of Candler; and his brother, Randy T. Queen of Candler.
Funeral services will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 1, at Pole Creek Baptist Church where Max will be honored for his years of service by Enka-Candler Fire & Rescue and Buncombe County Emergency Services. Pastors Ben Heise and Dennis Thurman will officiate. Interment will follow at Snow Hill United Methodist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday at the church.
Max’s family expresses their sincere appreciation to the staff of Four Seasons Hospice for the kindness and care they provided to him.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: The A-B Tech Foundation – Max & Janie Queen Scholarship Fund, 340 Victoria Rd., Asheville, NC 28801, or to the Building Fund at Pole Creek Baptist Church, 96 Snow Hill Church Rd., Candler, NC 28715.
Services
Visitation: April 1, 2022 12:00 pm - April 20, 2024 3:30 pm
Pole Creek Baptist Church
98 Snow Hill Church Road
Candler, NC 28715
828-252-3535
Funeral Service: April 1, 2022 4:00 pm
Pole Creek Baptist Church
98 Snow Hill Church Road
Candler, NC 28715
828-252-3535
Burial: April 1, 2022 5:00 pm
Snow Hill United Methodist Church Cemetery
84 Snow Hill Church Road
Candler, NC 28715
828-252-3535
Funeral Home Assisting The Family:
Groce Funeral Home - Patton Ave.
1401 Patton Ave.
Asheville, NC 28806
(828)252-3535
http://www.grocefuneralhome.com
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Max Queen was a good man who had many friends. He was known for his humor, kindness and concern for others. May God’s hands comfort Janie and the rest of the family.
this is Audrey love you papa
Caleb, We send our sincere condolences to you and your.family. Remember Heaven is gain. Our continued prayers to all on the days ahead. The Penleys
Joyce Dover Evans
Janie, Charlotte, Caleb & Sara
My thoughts and prayers are with you all right now. Max was a good Christian man that I am proud to be a friend since high school. Love ❤️ and prayers 🙏
Wanda and I are saddened to hear of Max’s early departure from all our lives. Hold to God’s hand thru this valley. May His grace and mercy help those left behind at this very difficult time.,
We all remember the people that were kind to us during difficult times in our lives. Max lended an Ear, and Pray years ago when I needed it most. I’ve never forgotten that. So sorry for your loss.
To the family of Max, and my special friend, his mother – Ms. Bobbie, I send my heartfelt condolences to you. You will be in my prayers during this difficult time.
Janie, Charlotte, Caleb, Sarah, and Family,
We continue to hold each of you up in prayer for God’s sweet grace and peace to fill your hearts. Heaven just became a lot sweeter for each of you! Max is now living the joys of heaven with family and friends gone before him. Rory and Mya were there cheering for him as he crossed over into glory. What a wonderful reunion we have to look forward to when we can join them.
We will miss Max’s big hugs and big shoulders to lift us up when we needed a friend. Our family’s lives have been intertwined with your family since our kids were little at Candler Elementary and on through high school and now through our grand children. Sweet memories of each child growing up and many prayers prayed for each and many prayers answered. Just because they are grown up does not stop the prayers for them to become all that God has planned for them to be. We are so proud to call you our friends.
Love in Jesus,
Royce & Gwenda
Janie , family and friends, we are sorry for your loss. May the love you shared and the memories you made bring comfort during this sad time. Prayers lifted.
We are so sad. Max was an amazing man. A great boss and a great friend. Always eager to lend a hand and help. Max ALWAYS did what was best for others. He has left an amazing legacy in his children, grandchildren, Janie and his professional path. He will be missed. He was one of a kind.
Skye Myrick
I had the honor and pleasure of working with Max at A-B Tech. He was always so positive and you could tell how much he loved what he did. He made a true impact in the community and in the lives of so many. My condolences to is family.
Janie, Caleb, Charlotte and Sarah words can not adequately express our sympathy. We have been neighbors forever it seems! My memory of Max will be on that tractor taking care of his yard. Always working in all aspects of his life to ensure the best for his family and community. It’s been wonderful getting to know Max and you Janie on a different level and sharing our small group study. Max was wise and caring and we thought the world of him. I’m so thankful to know we will see him again in heaven. We are here for you! Love and prayers Audria, Robin and family♥️
I only knew Max thru his faithful attendance,his
work in the Church; and I’ll, remember him for his kindness and encouragement.I loved to hear him speak with his voice so clear and strong. Condolences to Janie and family.
❤️🙏
So sorry for your loss Max was a very kind compassionate man and he will be missed by all prayers for all of you during this time💚 Conley and Jo West
May the love of friends give you comfort
May the love of God give you peace
Love you guys and family
Praying for you Jamie and all the children and family. He will be missed at church and in community. I will miss seeing him work thru the woods and Keeping count if the deer. May God be with you in days ahead. Back door neighbors. Carolyn and Gerald Stamey
Janie and family. I have known Max since elementary school. He was always smiling and had such a wonderful personality. I would run into him and it was like he just talked to you the day before. He was an accomplished man and helped so many. Prayers are with you in the days that follow. God is good and faithful to all that serve him.
Janie, my dear precious friend, I did not know that Max was sick so his death has come as a tremendous shock to me. While I loved you first, I loved that sweet bear of a man as he helped me through my days at ABTCC. My heart is just broken — for you (who loved him even before he loved you), for your children, and for your grandchildren. I KNOW what a loss this sweetheart is to you all. You can be assured that my deep love and prayers will be with you long after these initial days of mourning.
What a blessing it has been to have crossed paths with Max Queen! He was one of those people with the right amount of drive and at the same time the right amount of patience.
Family- you took great care of Max when he needed it the most. I hope you are able to take comfort in that. We are thinking of you and praying for you frequently. May God’s comfort surround you these tough days.
Clint and Tammy Gorman
Phil and Dawn Points
Dear Janie, Caleb, Charlotte, Sarah, Randy and Grandchildren:
I am so sorry for your loss. I wish I could lessen your saddness & suffering. But only God can do that. You are and will be in my prayers. Max and Ned shaped and influenced me as a young man in so many positive ways. I cannot express to you how much he meant to me. He was my Paramedic Program Chairperson, Instructor and Mentor. Later he was my boss and friend when I graduated and then began teaching for the Paramedic Program and other courses etc.
He expected excellence from his students and staff but in a way that was respectful, gentle and kind especially for his stature and commanding presence 🙂
His commitment to the field’s of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Education and Excellence will have a tremendous positive impact on patient care for the citizens of WNC, The State of NC and throughout the US where his past students now work in the fields of Prehospital Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Transport Medicine and Emergency Management and others at various levels for many years to come.
Max was a wonderful human being that will be thoroughly missed but not forgotten.
I will be praying for each of you. II Timothy 1:3 and Proverbs 3:5-6.
Sincerely,
Keith Stephenson
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Queen family.
We are so sorry for your loss. Max was such a pillar to the Enka community and he will be missed. We had prayed for Max since his diagnosis of cancer that God would give him complete healing. Our prayer was answered on Tuesday, God did give him that complete healing. May God comfort you all during this most difficult time, and give you that peace that passes all understanding.
I feel so fortunate to have worked on the ABTech campus while Max was Vice President. He was a mentor, supporter, and advisor but I always felt he was my friend. I will respect and admire him for my lifetime. I offer my thanks to his family for sharing such a good man with so many in our community. Love and peace to you all.
The Holderman’s
Janie and family,
Max had a special place in our hearts. He was such a blessing and a great help to us in our years of ministry at Pole Creek. Always smiling and encouraging and giving his support. A true friend to Dennis and that is something we will always appreciate.
We love each of you.
Dennis and Marilyn Thurman
I am so very sorry for your loss. May Jehovah, the God of all comfort be with you all.
Max was one of the best men I’ve ever known.
Charlie Farmer
AB Tech (retired)
I met Max a couple of years ago. He was always the same everytime after that. Pleasant, friendly and always took time to talk. I know he will beissed by many. But through God’s grace mercy and love his family and friends will see him again. Prayers for the family.
Alice Barnes
Kalarovich Family
Janie, Caleb, Charlotte, and Sarah: this is heart-breaking for Katie and me, and for our sons Aaron and Adam who grew up with Caleb, even sometimes at your house or ours. We’ll remember Max with joy as we think of him helping with cub scouts and cheering at the soccer games. We hold your family in our prayers during this time. Bill
Janie, Caleb, Charlotte and Sarah and families:
Eve and I are so sorry for your loss. Getting to work with Max as a partner early in our EMS careers to teaching with him through the years at A-B Tech he was a true leader, teacher and a great friend. Thank you for sharing him with the EMS community. We are thinking of you and keeping you in our prayers.
Rieley and Eve Bennett
Sorry to hear of the passing of Max,My prayers are with the family.
So sorry Janie for your loss. My heartfelt condolences to you and your family. Love ,Karen and Kim Potthoff
I’m so sorry for you loss and pray that you receive comfort from the Holy Spirit. I’ve worked with and known Max for 39 years. In the beginning we both worked in the old Hemlock Building at A-B Tech. Eventually Continuing Education needed a new VP and Max assumed that position and became my VP for which I was very glad. During this time we had wonderful moments and on occasion I experienced his “sense of humor” which I never let him forget one specific incident. When I saw him last summer, at an A-B Tech retirement party, I reminded him of that incident where he sacred me with his practical joke and told him to never do that to me again. In Max Queen fashion he laughed as only he could.
On that day last summer as just he and I talked, Max told me of his illness and the events that led up to it as well as his interaction with potentially new doctors. We talked for a long time and I promised him that I and my church would be in prayer for him. I’m grateful for that conversation we had. Max was not only my boss, he was also my friend.
Psalm 27:5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
Janie I am so sorry about Max! My heart and prayers are with you! May God hold you ever so closer! —— Judy
I was in one of the first Paramedic AAS programs at AB Tech back in ’84 when the classrooms (all 2 of them!) were in the basement of the old Hemlock building. This was when I first met Max Queen. He was an excellent lecturer, before the days of “Death by PowerPoint,” when instructors actually used a chalkboard or one of those newfangled dry-erase boards. Max was a demanding but fair teacher who gave nothing but the best instruction and expected nothing but the best from his students. He would often remind us that lives would hang in the balance when we finally got into the trucks, and it was far better to fail in the classroom than to fail in the field, but if we excelled in the classroom we would also excel in the field. Max, along with Ned Fowler, set the standard for what I consider to be the very best in EMS instruction.
Not only was Max a great teacher, but he was also an excellent clinician as a paramedic and registered nurse. What a fine man, husband, and father. There are very few gentlemen like Max in this world. I am proud to have called Max Queen my friend.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
We are so sorry for your loss. Max was a fine man. He will be missed.
The Stanberry Family
Janie and family, I can’t begin to express my deepest condolences and love to all. Max was a deeply respected and loved member of our community. I will continue to hold you in my heart and prayers.
I was very fortunate to work with Max for so many years at A-B Tech as well as spend time getting to know him personally while we were there. He had a wonderful laugh and was an incredibly fair and kind person. My sincerest thoughts are with his family.
My sincere condolences to the family. RIP Max.
I had the pleasure of going through nursing school with Max. So sorry to hear of his untimely passing. He was a very accomplished man & touched so many lives. My condolences to the family. May God bless, comfort & strengthen you during this difficult time.
Janie – So sorry for the great loss to your family and also the community which Max served. Prayers during the coming weeks as you go through this journey.
My condolences to the family. Max was a good friend and neighbor🙏
Max & I met when I came to work at AB Tech. We became good friends. I Enjoyed dealing with Max outside of work on his HVAC Projects! When he would ask me for a price he would always say Now Randy was your pencil sharp on that price! Then I would say can’t get any sharper than that!
I will miss his humor & kindness! He had a big heart!
My thoughts & prayers are with you all.
Max was always very kind and encouraging to us while we were at Pole Creek and afterward. His faithfulness in service to the Lord through all his various areas of responsibility and volunteering will remain a string example to follow; his reward awates him. May God bring comfort, strength, and peace to family.
I became friends with Max during my time as an AB Tech trustee. I admired him for his knowledge, wise counsel and complete dedication to the institution’s welfare. Beyond that, Alice and I frequently reflected on his warmth and caring, an essential part of his personality. We were appreciative that he served on the Buncombe County School Board because we knew that he would make wise decisions that placed students first. We are deeply saddened by the passing of a cherished friend. During this time of great loss, we send our deepest sympathy to the family.
Remembering Max from A-B Tech over the years and from his involvement in the community. I always appreciated his outgoing personality and his cheerful demeanor. My thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time.