Leonard Frederick Thies 1919-2007
EASTMAN, THIES, GEVING, MATHIS, FRINK, HENNESSY, MIENE
Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 1/23/2008 at 15:54:52
Leonard Thies
Leonard F. Thies, 88, of Waukon died Thursday, December 13, 2007 at the Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services were held Tuesday, December 18th at 11 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Waukon, with Rev. Lynn Groe officiating. Burial with military graveside rites was held in Old West Paint Creek Cemetery, rural Waukon. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Waukon Veterans.
Leonard Frederick Thies was born July 28, 1919 on his parent's farm in rural Waukon, the son of Lewis and Freelove (Eastman) Thies. He attended Jefferson Township #8 rural school and received an Honorable Veterans GED in 2003. He was baptized and confirmed at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church. Leonard was a member of the 610th TD Battalion, attached to the 80th infantry division which landed with the 1st Army on Utah Beach and later the 3rd Army under General Patton. He served as a radio operator for the company commander. Leonard's battalion was involved in closing the Caen Falaise Gap. He served continually on the front lines until May, 1945 and then served in occupation until October, 1945. He was then discharged with a rank of T/4 sergeant serving five campaigns. June 4, 1947 he married Bernice Geving at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church. Leonard drove maintainer for Allamakee County for several years. He then went to work for Holland Brothers Construction in Decorah as a foreman. He officially retired in 1984, but was called back to help on projects occasionally.
Leonard was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church and a lifetime member of the VFW. He was a former member of the Kiwanis, Elks and Allamakee Antique Auto Club. Leonard enjoyed traveling, woodworking, working on his antique car and socializing with his family and friends. He was also an avid Iowa Hawkeye and Chicago Cubs fan.
Survivors include his wife Bernice of Waukon; his children, Karen (Cletus) Mathis, Kathy (Danny) Mathis, Jim (Marilyn) and Kim (Barb) all of Waukon, Mark (Deb) of West Union, IA, Larry (Elaine) of Milwaukee, WI, Todd (Judy) of Robins, IA and Ronn (Renee) of Onalaska, WI; 21 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, two grand-daughters, Meghan and Elizabeth Thies; four brothers, Louis, Howard, Frank and Elmer; three sisters, Minerva Frink, Florence Hennessy and Emma Miene.
Honorary casketbearers were his grandsons, Jim, Michael, Vaughn and Eric Mathis, Chris, Carter, TJ, Andrew, Matthew and Mitchell Thies. Casketbearers were Leonard's sons, Jim, Kim, Mark, Larry, Todd and Ronn Thies.
Waukon Standard, Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Submitter has no further information.
Allamakee Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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