Max R. Bruss 06/12/1939 – 08/18/2024

Max Bruss, founding member of VOSH Southeast, passed away last week. This tribute was written by fellow board member, Suzy Eberle.

My first encounter with Max was in 2003 when our church was interested in doing some version of a servant mission trip and looking for non-profits to partner with. Max and John Gehrig came and spoke with our group. John has a strong voice filled with wisdom and dry humor; he was the visionary that can make beauty out of ashes. Max was the quiet one, often only speaking when spoken to, forever the operational and tactical man. We were very impressed and decided immediately after our meeting that VOSH Florida was our new partner.

In May of 2004, João, Max myself and a dozen other people went to Nicaragua on my first ever foreign mission trip. Days were long at vision clinics, but I still cherish the nights where John, Max and myself would talk for hours in the rocking chairs about the day, mission work and life. Max taught me how to run an autorefractor, dispense glasses, calculate a spherical equivalent and operate a vision clinic in a mission field.

Those evenings began what would be a 20+ year friendship and partnership as Max and John asked me to join the VOSH board. Within weeks I was filling up my house with McDonald’s French fry boxes of dirty old used glasses to recycle and prepare for Max to ship to a litany of foreign countries.

With Max’s operational acumen, I learned to organize equipment and supplies in the ‘Tin Hut’ storage units in Ocala. He helped guide me to orchestrate a monthly vision clinic at Gainesville Community Ministries in partnership with volunteers from First Lutheran Church. The vision clinic served the homeless and sheltered people of Gainesville for several years. Max also helped me coordinate eyeglass recycling events on Saturday mornings with dozens of volunteers at First Lutheran Church. Thousands of glasses were processed and prepared for shipment with Max’s kind oversight. When an opportunity arose to host the world’s largest eyeglass recycling event in 2005, Max was all-in! In partnership with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s National Youth Gathering, Max coordinated logistics and volunteers with trailers filled with supplies to clean, bag and box over 15,000 pairs of glasses collected and cleaned by youth in a just a couple of days.

After joining the VOSH Florida (now Southeast) board, Max helped guide me to orchestrating mission trips in Nicaragua on my own. His guidance on paperwork required with the Ministry of Health, optical equipment and supplies, in-country operations and sustainable care programs helped to serve thousands of patients in Nicaragua. Na verdade, since 2014, VOSH Southeast has hosted 25 vision clinics around the country, served just under 19,000 pacientes, dispensed over 20,000 óculos, coordinated 71 cataract and pterygium surgeries and shadowed 57 estudantes de optometria.

além do que, além do mais, dentro 2009, we decided to set up a permanent optical lab in Nicaragua and Max was ready to ship all the equipment and supplies we would need for a full optical lab. That included lens shipments from China, equipment donated for optical students and the list goes on.

All of this said, this story isn’t about me, it’s about Max. Let’s think about the impact he had as he dropped that pebble in the water with me, the ripple effect it had. To recap:

• 18,698 patients served in vision clinics in Nicaragua

• 400 patients served at Gainesville Community Ministries

• 57 optometry students received hands-on training in the mission field

• 600+ volunteer optometrists, students and lay people participated in vision clinics

If you’re still reading, that’s close to 20,000 people Max impacted directly from mentoring myself. I am one of many and I smile thinking about the impacts he had on people in Peru, Camarões, República Dominicana, Paraguai, Mexico and many more countries.

Max was a true legend. A man of very few words but huge impact. His love language was acts of service. There will never be another Max Bruss, but we can carry on his legacy. I challenge you to serve someone this week and pay it forward, quietly and humbly in honor of him. Rest in peace Max.

Matthew 25: 34-40 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited

me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

To view Max’s full obituary, click here:

https://www.robertsfunerals.com/obituaries/Max-Bruss/#!/Obituary

If you would like to make a donation to VOSH Southeast in honor of Max, please click here:

https://voshsoutheast.org/how-can-i-help/donations/

Dr. Greg Kane, former VOSH Southeast board member, passed away recently.

Greg was an active board member and participated in numerous mission trips to Nicaragua and Peru during his 34 years in private practice as an optometrist. We all have fond memories of him noting he was one of the good guys and had a heart of gold.

Greg had a way especially with pediatric patients on mission trips, making them feel at ease. We honor Greg for his many years of service in the optometry industry.

Greg’s full obituary can be found here:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/palatkadailynews/name/gregory-kane-obituary?id=55183660

Dr. Greg assisted these two boys in 2015 with their first-ever eyeglasses while on a mission trip in Nicaragua