McGee services set for Sunday

A "very, very large" crowd is expected at Grace Church in Eden Prairie to honor the Packer great.

Last update: October 23, 2007 - 9:24 PM

Max McGee lived large, so it's fitting that the Green Bay Packers legend's funeral will need one of the region's largest churches.

Public services for McGee, who died Saturday in a fall at his Deephaven home at age 75, will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. The sanctuary seats more than 4,000 and is in the same city as the headquarters of the Packers' chief rival, the Minnesota Vikings.

And it's fitting that McGee's funeral is being held on a Sunday, the day of the week that McGee put on the green and gold from 1954 to 1967.

As for any conflict with the 2007 Packers and their game that week, there isn't any: Green Bay plays Monday night in Denver.

A "very, very large crowd" is expected Sunday, said Wally Gelecinskyj, with Huber Funeral and Cremation Services. "We are doubling our staff."

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes c/o Children's Hospital Foundation, M.S. 3050, P.O. Box 1997, Milwaukee, WI 53201.

McGee and his wife, Denise, founded the research center in 1999. The center was started after McGee learned that his son Dallas had Type 1 diabetes at age 2.

Under coach Vince Lombardi, McGee played on five world championship teams and in two Pro Bowls. He is most remembered for Super Bowl I, when he scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl history.

He had been in the restaurant business for more than 35 years, cofounding the Left Guard and Chi Chi's Restaurant chains.

Along with his wife and son Dallas, McGee is survived by daughters Marla McGee and Mona McGee Olson; son Maxwell McGee, and one brother, Coy McGee.

PAUL WALSH

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