OBITUARIES OF MAX I. REICH.
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"Max I. Reich, whose sudden death on Eight Month 10th, in his 79th year, closed a life of
sustained usefulness, was a man of singularly buoyant and gay spirit. His faith in Jesus Christ was
so strong that he was able to overcome all fears for the future, and to walk cheerfully in times of
perplexity. The certainty of the life to come was to him more real and important than the
uncertainties of this material life. So he presented a smiling face to a world which thrust many
difficulties upon him, and was ready to enter important fields of service as soon as the way
opened. To those who knew him at all, he was a well-loved friend. He was so strong in his faith
that he felt no need to be dogmatic; his influence was the more persuasive for gaiety, courtesy,
and gentleness with which it exerted.
R.R.W."
[The Friend (Philadelphia), Vol. 119 No. 5 (Eighth Month 30, 1945,) page 2.]
[P582] MAX ISAAC REICH, of Fallsington Meeting, Pennsylvania, who died on August 11, was
born of Jewish parents in Berlin, on March 17, 1867. He was educated there and in London, and
was later apprenticed to a printer in this country. Through the a fellow-worker, influenced by D.L.
Moody, Max Reich decided to become a Christian.
Later he went to work among the lumbermen in Ontario an, settlers in Michigan. After his return
to England he joined Friends, and had much useful and wide service among Meetings in various
parts of the British Isles till 1911, when he returned to the United States. From then until 1931 he
did much library and research work for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, traveled widely in the
ministry and wrote a considerable number of helpful booklets and tracts. After the last war he
went to Germany on behalf of Philadelphia Friends.
He helped to found and was President of the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America, and for the
past 15 years had been on the teaching and lecturing staff [P583] of the Moody Bible Institute,
Chicago. His last visit to this country was in 1937.
A writer and speaker whose message was conveyed with grace and sincerity, a deep student of
the Bible and also of many languages, including Hebrew, Greek, Danish, German, and French,
Max Reich made friends among all with whom he had dealings.
He married Esther Mary Lorenzan in 1888, and they had nine children, all of whom are living.
One daughter, Anne Griffiths, is a member of Uttoxeter Meeting. One son, John Rich, is well
known here for his work with the American Friends Service Committee, and another, Edward
Rich, is Canon of Peterborough Cathedral.
[The Friend (London), Vol. 103, August 31, 1945, pages 582-583.]
REICH--On August 11, MAX I. REICH, a member of the faculty of the Moody Bible Institute,
Chicago. He was well known as a minister in the Society, for his research into Friends' history,
and for his writings on the Bible and the Christian message, including Studies in Messianic
Prophecy, and Studies in the Psalms of Israel. The funeral services were held at the meeting
house at Fallsington, Pa. He is survived by his wife, Esther Mary Reich; by his four daughters,
Mrs. Hans Gramm of Reading, Pa.; Mrs, Parry Grfffith, wife of the canon of St. Petersborough
Cathedral, England; Mrs. Donald Tucker of Trinidad B.W.I.; Mrs. Ralph Bayer, of Silver Springs,
Md.; and by five sons, William, Edward, John, Lawrence and Joseph.
[Friends' Intelligencer, Vol. 102 No. 36 (Ninth Month 8, 1945), page 582.]