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1 of 1977 Max Westerman

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Max Westerman

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Name	Westerman, Max
Othernames	Max Westerman Jr.
Born	1915
Notes	The Department of Public Safety’s first pilot, retired Texas Ranger Max Westerman, Jr. passed away March 9, 2006. His funeral was held at the Cook Walden Cemetery located across the street from DPS Headquarters in Austin, Texas, on March 13, 2006. Born in 1915, Max Westerman was the oldest of eight children. Ranger Westerman joined the Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol in 1937. Starting in 1943 he spent four and a half years in the Air Corp during World War II, where he flew planes filled with troops and cargo over India into China. He rejoined the DPS in the mid-1940s and worked continuously for the DPS until his retirement in August of 1977. During his time with DPS, he held the positions of Highway Patrolman, Drivers License Examiner, and when promoted to Texas Ranger around that time the Department purchased its first Navion airplane, Max proudly became the first Pilot-Investigator for the Department of Public Safety. He was named Senior Pilot-Investigator and Chief Pilot when another Ranger, James Frank ‘Pete’ Rogers, joined him as a pilot-investigator in 1951. As a pilot for the DPS he transported Rangers, technicians, sick persons, prisoners, dignitaries and even bloodhounds. He tracked fugitives from the air and once chased a suspected arsonist as the man fled by car and forced him to stop, landed the Texas Ranger plane on the highway, arrested the man and flew him back to the local sheriff’s office where the man wrote out a full confession. Before his passing Max Westerman wrote his own obituary. After his retirement in 1977, Max said that he never flew again because "I decided I had used up all of my good luck points." He added that he was ready to "now join those that have gone before me in peaceful rest on the other side of the clouds that I flew in for most of my life."
Occupation	Texas DPS Texas Ranger / Pilot-Investigator
Spouse	Daisy Carriger Westerman
Deceased	03/09/2006

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