MELVIN J. THILTGEN 1920 - 2003

BROCKMAN, THILTGEN, THUL, PUTCHIO, MAKOVEC, ROBBINS, SEVERSON, FAIRBANKS

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 9/23/2003 at 14:50:41

Melvin J. Thiltgen

Telegraph Herald - Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Mr. Melvin J. Thiltgen, 83, of 13042 English Mill Road, died at 2:15 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, 2003, at home, as the result of cancer.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Nativity Catholic Church. Burial will be in Mount Calvary Cemetery, where military rites will be accorded by the American Legion, Dubuque Post 6. Friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. today at Dennis Kitchen Funeral Home, 3860 Asbury Road, where there will be a wake service at 7 p.m.

Mr. Thiltgen was a route delivery driver for the former Dubuque Lorenz Laundry, which became Aladdin Magiclean. After retiring from Aladdin, he sold feed for a year and worked part time as a security guard at A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co.

He was born on July 9, 1920, in Menominee, Ill., son of Frank and Emma (Brockman) Thiltgen. Melvin grew up in the Menominee area. On July 25, 1945, he married Mildred Thul; she passed away on Feb. 18, 1986.

He was an Army veteran, serving from 1942 to 1945 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

Melvin served as an ambassador who visited the sick for the Knights of Columbus Council 5513, of Peosta, Iowa, and St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, where he was a charter member. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 5513, the American Legion, Dubuque Post 6, the Eagles Club and the Teamsters Union, Local 421.

His hobbies included hunting, fishing and playing euchre. He also was a die-hard Cubs fan.

Surviving are two daughters, Eileen (Tyrone) Putchio and Connie (Carl Severson) Makovec, both of Dubuque; three sons, Don (Peg) Thiltgen, of De Witt, Iowa, Ronnie (fiancee, Candy Maines) Thiltgen, of Gibsonton, Fla., and Dan (fiancee, Connie Harjehausen) Thiltgen, of Dubuque; a sister, Bernice Robbins, of Dubuque; 16 grandchildren; and 21 great-grandchildren. Melvin also was known to 14 other children in the family as "Grandpa Melvin."

He also was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Tom Thiltgen, on April 23, 1974; a sister, Margaret Fairbanks; and two brothers, Frank and Harry Thiltgen.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Hospice of Dubuque and the American Diabetes Association.

The family would like to thank Dorothy, of Hospice, the grandchildren who cared for their grandpa and a special thanks to Sharon Thul.