Monte Max Deere

Monte Max Deere

1940 ~ 2025

Monte Max Deere passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 84 years of age. Monte was born on November 24, 1940 in Amarillo, Texas. Monte is the son of the late Vernia Walter Deere and Agnes Loraine Davis, and the younger brother of Dona Lou Deere Thomas (living). Monte graduated from Palo Duro High School in Amarillo, Texas in 1959. He then attended the University of Oklahoma on a football scholarship, where he played halfback, cornerback, and quarterback. Some highlights of his years as a Sooner include playing against Army in Yankee Stadium, intercepting three passes against Notre Dame, being named Sports Illustrated’s “Back of the Week,” and starting at quarterback in the 1963 Orange Bowl opposite Alabama’s Joe Namath and coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Following his football career at OU, Monte went on to fly supersonic T-38 Thunderbirds and the massive C-130 Hercules in the U.S. Air Force, eventually retiring from the Air National Guard. Monte was the consummate patriot; his sons say he cried during the national anthem at every single sporting event he ever attended.

Monte met Sharron Gale Budzinsky while at OU, and they were married on June 22, 1962 in McAlester, Oklahoma. Their marriage was later sealed in the Manti, Utah temple on April 2, 1974. Monte and Gale raised their family in Norman, Oklahoma. They retired on a small farm in Columbia, Tennessee for a few years before moving to Alpine, Utah in 2012. Gale suffered from several debilitating health problems later in life, but Monte stood steadfastly by her for 57 years until she passed away on November 1, 2019.

Monte and Gale have four sons, Monte Jr., Michael, Jason and Josh, and four daughters-in-law, Bobbi, Kelly, Sonja and Brittany. They also have fourteen grandchildren, Jackson, Cameron, Annie, Justin, Jake, Brooke, Kennedy, Griffin, Josie, Maddy, J Davis, Joshua, Wyatt and Jack, and nine great-grandchildren, Madeline, Hayden, Lola, Scottie, Beckham, Wesley, Jade, Emry and Baylor, with two more on the way!

Monte met Barbara Wilkinson Davis in 2021 at the Bellaview Assisted Living Facility in Lehi, Utah. The two were married at Bellaview on January 15, 2023. Barbara’s sweet kindness and devotion brought a great deal of joy to Monte in his final years, and the Deere family is extremely grateful for their time together.

We love you and will miss you Dad, but we are filled with joy knowing that you and Mom are together again. We can’t imagine a better example of what it means to be a husband, father, and Papa, and we are all better for having you in our lives.

Services will be held on Saturday, February 22nd at 11:00 a.m. (viewing from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.) at the Warenski Funeral Home, 1776 North 900 East, American Fork, Utah 84003/801-763-5000.