Max Prange (1990–2026). Fourth-generation roots. A whole life’s worth of love in 35 years.
Max Prange, age 35, of New Prague, Minnesota, was called home to Heaven on February 16, 2026 — three days before his 36th birthday and seven years to the day after he married the love of his life, Maria. In their final hours together, husband and wife received one last marriage blessing on their anniversary.
Max was born in Plymouth, Wisconsin, and raised at Elm Park Farms, the 116-year family operation near Plymouth and Elkhart Lake where four generations of Pranges have worked the land. The farm was more than Max’s home — it was his classroom, his proving ground, and the place that shaped everything he became. As a boy, he learned to work alongside his father, Louis, and his late mother, Laurie, whose loss he carried quietly and whose strength he reflected every day.
Growing up at Elm Park Farms gave Max a world beyond Wisconsin. Over the years, the farm welcomed more than 150 international agricultural interns, and Max built friendships that spanned continents. A summer internship in Europe — and travels across the continent with his father — deepened his love for agriculture and broadened his view of what farming could be. Back home, he developed into a skilled fitter, preparing cattle at the highest levels of dairy exhibition, and became a cornerstone of the annual Elm Park Farms sales.
Max’s early years were spent between Elkhart Lake and Plymouth schools. At St. John the Baptist School, he competed on the basketball team. At Plymouth High School, he wrestled, threw himself into Future Farmers of America, and was active in 4-H throughout his youth. After graduating in 2009, Max pursued the Farm and Industry Short Course at UW-Madison before earning a double major in Agricultural Engineering and Agricultural Business at UW-River Falls in 2014.
It was at River Falls that Max met Maria Pieper. They married on February 16, 2019, beginning a partnership built on shared faith, hard work, and a deep love of family. Max was baptized, confirmed, and a faithful member of Saron United Church of Christ in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin.
Max’s restless drive didn’t stop at the farm gate. He taught himself diesel mechanics, turned that knowledge into Prange Trucking in New Prague, Minnesota, and built a business from the ground up — the same way his family had built Elm Park Farms generations before him.
The greatest joy of Max’s life arrived in the form of his two sons, Julian, 5, and Vincent, 3, who became the center of his world from the moment they were born. Recently, Max and Maria shared the news that another child is on the way — a future Prange who will know their father through the legacy he leaves behind.
Max was determined, dedicated, and relentless in his pursuit of excellence — whether fitting cattle for the show ring, turning a wrench under the hood of a truck, or building a life worthy of the family name he was so proud to carry. He is survived by his wife, Maria Prange; sons Julian and Vincent, all of New Prague, Minnesota; his father, Louis Prange of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin; and his brother, Charles, of Neenah, Wisconsin. He was preceded in death by his mother, Laurie, who we trust is welcoming him home.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Veseli, Minnesota. Funeral arrangements are provided by White Funeral Home in Lonsdale, Minnesota.
