Max Marcel Lomont

Our sweet father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, Max Marcel Lomont, had a peaceful passing on March 13th, 2024, just three weeks shy of his 96th birthday.
Max was born in Paris, France April 5, 1928, to an American mother and a French father. In 1935 they moved to Nice. Luckily the entire family was able to leave France in July 1941. They boarded the French line ship Winnipeg, in Marseille, one of the last boats to leave France, bound for Martinique in the Caribbean. The ship was seized on the high seas by a British destroyer and taken to Trinidad. From there, the family took an American cruise ship, the Alcoa Star, to New York arriving in August 1941. Max was 13 years old and spoke French, German and Italian, but only three words of English: Yes, No and OK!
The family settled in New Rochelle, NY, where Max graduated from High School in 1944. He received his baccalaureate degree from the Lycée Francais de New York in 1945, and enlisted in the army in 1946. He served in Germany with the US 3rd Army G-2 (Military Intelligence) and was a translator at the Nuremberg Trials working with the French Military Mission. He was discharged in January 1949 and studied at Columbia University under the GI Bill. He met Joan Farago, a classmate of his sister Betti at Barnard College, and fell in love. They were married on June 11, 1950. Max and Joan had three daughters, Jacqui, Robin and Patti. In 1963, Max took Joan to Paris for the first time to meet his many cousins and then on to Nice to reunite with childhood friends.
Max was a professional graphic designer and photographer and worked for major food companies including Pepsi-Cola, General Foods, American Home Products and twenty-one years as the Vice President of Design and Packaging for Quaker Oats Company. He retired in October 1991 after a forty-six year career. Max designed too many iconic pieces to mention, but a few were the Pepsi-Cola "swirl" bottle in 1954, Kool-Aid packets and pitcher, Willy Wonka candy wrappers (for the original 1970 movie & the Quaker Oats product line), Cap'n Crunch and LIFE cereal boxes, Gatorade bottles, and more! Max was also a packaging consultant to Quaker International with subsidiary companies in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Scandinavia, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela and Taiwan. When company reunions took place in the summer, he always took Joan with him for vacations in Europe and other parts of the world.
In 1972, a team was formed by major food companies and other businesses, to develop the Universal Product Code. Max was a member of the tech team charged with the application of the UPC code symbol to packages of all types. He lectured at symposiums on the subject in Chicago, Atlanta and Montreal. Max was a founder and Chairman of the Board of the William A. Reedy Lectures in Photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, sponsored by the Eastman Kodak Company, for ten years. He was also a member of the Packaging Institute, USA. He was a frequent lecturer on design, photography, and the visual communications arts.
Max was heavily involved in civic activities. He was elected to two and four-year terms as Trustee in the Village of Riverwoods, Illinois, where he was also Housing & Zoning Commissioner. He served three years as Chairman of the Planning Commission.
Max and Joan loved Eugene and traveled extensively in Oregon, where eventually all three of their daughters, and four out of their six granddaughters live. They traveled throughout the state, from the Cascades to Crater Lake and to the coast. They participated in many family high school and college graduations, weddings, and vacations here. Friends and family celebrated Joan and Max's 60th wedding anniversary in Eugene in 2010.
In September 2014, Max and Joan sold their little vacation house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and their home in Riverwoods, Illinois, and in February 2015 moved to Cascade Manor in Eugene. They both participated in many of the activities offered at the Manor, including the French group, and made good friends. Joan passed away on June 13th, 2019, two days after celebrating their 69th wedding anniversary.
Max loved being surrounded by all the women in his life and is survived by his three daughters, Jacqui (Vince), Robin, Patti (Robert), and six granddaughters, Michelle (Scott), Crissy (Jon), Catie (Rick), Amanda, Kyla (Brendan), and Sierra (Chris), sister Bettina and family, and nephew Edward and family.
Max and Joan will be interred together at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Eugene. They will be reunited. Together...Forever.
The family would like to make a special thank you to the staff of Cascade Manor, who so lovingly supported and helped Max, Joan, and our entire family.
[Donations, in Max and Joan's honor, can be made to the Employee Appreciation Fund via: Cascade Manor, c/o Business Office, 65 W. 30th Ave., Eugene, OR 97405. Checks "Pay to the order of Cascade Manor", add Employee Appreciation Fund on "memo line".]