Madison historian, Max Lacy, 86, passed away last week.
Lacy, born Jan. 21, 1940, grew up in Madison County and was a fourth generation postmaster at Oak Park Post Office, where he served for 37 years. He began volunteering as a child helping his mother with projects to raise money for the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church’s Women’s Missionary Society. In the mid-1960s, Lacy was active in the local Jaycees chapter serving both locally and at the state level. He also served with the Madison Boosters, helping improve the local football field and operating concessions, continuing his service with youth sports in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, Lacy began leading the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church Men’s Group, raising funds for local causes and was involved in the George James Community Center.
Lacy was also a fan of the stage. He sang with the Beulah Land Quartet for decades and took on the role of John Collier, moonshiner, in a series of fundraising dinner theater productions written by Bob Slaven and Shirley Workman. Clad in denim overalls with a feather in his cap, Lacy lit up the stage as part of BS Productions.
However, perhaps Lacy’s greatest impact came through his involvement with the Madison County Historical Society. He joined in 2009, was elected to the board in 2010 and became president in 2014. He was instrumental in helping create the Blue Ridge Heritage Project Memorial in Criglersville and celebrated its unveiling in 2015. He was also a large proponent of opening the Kemper Museum in 2017 and the Mountain Museum at Criglersville in 2021. He would proudly lead visitors through the rooms of the Mountain Museum, showing them the artifacts from families who were displaced by the creation of Shenandoah National Park, striking up conversations along the way.
“Max was a lifelong historian and loved sharing the history of Madison County with everyone,” historical society officials said. “He was a driving force in the historical society and will be greatly missed.”
Lacy received the Madison Award in 2016. The award recognizes sustained voluntary community service in the county with recipients nominated and voted on by civic organizations.
At the time, Lacy said it was nice to receive the recognition, but it wasn’t why he volunteered.
“It feels good, but you don’t do it for that,” he said. “It’s nice to receive recognition, but you do it to help people.”
In 2019, Lacy was again honored for his contributions to the community, this time as a Five Over 50 winner. Each year, Aging Together selects five honorees, one for each of the organization’s five counties, who have contributed to their community. Lacy was the Madison honoree.
In addition to serving his community, Lacy was a friend to many. He frequented The Freeze where he was a cherished customer and was always kind, with a big smile and a warm hug for those he hadn’t seen in a while. He was also a family man and is survived by his wife, Frances, sons Alan and Mark and three grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. at Preddy’s Funeral Home in Madison. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Madison County Historical Society, PO Box 467, Madison, VA 22730, earmarked for the Mountain Museum at Criglersville.
