John H. THIESSEN

THIESSEN, WASEM, DAU, BOHMAN, BOWLING, OLSON, NELSON, BAUMGARTNER, HERRMAN, WALKER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/5/2008 at 09:14:56

Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho)
May 02, 1996

John H. Thiessen, 85, lifelong Tammany farmer,

The funeral for John H. Thiessen, a lifelong Tammany-area wheat farmer, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Malcom's Brower-Wann Memorial Chapel at Lewiston with the Rev. Michael Swain officiating. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the chapel.

Thiessen, 85, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at Boise. He was born Aug. 3, 1910, at Lewiston to German immigrant Gustav D. and Mary Wasem Thiessen of Eagle Grove, Iowa. He attended Tammany School through the 10th grade and graduated from Lewiston High School in 1929. He farmed with his five brothers and mother as Thiessen Land Company near Tammany. Thiessen Land Company dissolved in 1945 and Thiessen farmed the John Dau place and leased land in the Tammany area until his retirement in 1968. He was an active 4-H leader and served as a director and chairman of the Nez Perce County Fair Board. In 1978, he was recognized for 25 years of service on the fair board. He was regarded the father of the Nez Perce County Fair Building. He also served on the board of directors of the Idaho Cattlemen's Association from 1969 to 1971 and on the board of the North Idaho Children's Home, now Northwest Children's Home. He also served on the Idaho Brand Board and was active in the Grange.

In 1990, the Thiessen farm was recognized as one of Idaho's centennial farms, having been in the same family for more than 100 years. The farm was established in 1884 by John Schatz. He was given the Outstanding Farm Citizen Award by the Lewiston Chamber of Commerce in 1976 and was recognized by former Gov. Cecil Andrus in 1975 for service to the people of Idaho.

He married Mary Magdellena Dau Oct. 12, 1936, at Lewiston. She died Sept. 20, 1953. He married Helen Lenora Bohman Bowling on June 24, 1954 at Lewiston and she died Feb. 8, 1968. He married Marion Josephine Olson Bohman Aug. 3, 1968, at Troy, Idaho. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and a lifetime member of Lewiston Elks Lodge.

Survivors include his wife of Moscow; two sons, Wayne L. Thiessen of Boise and Robert I. Thiessen of Sacramento, Calif.; two stepdaughters, Karen Bohman Nelson of Troy and Judy Bohman Baumgartner of Genesee; one stepson, James Bohman of Evergreen, Colo.; two brothers, Oscar Raymond Thiessen and August (Dick) Thiessen, both of Lewiston; one sister, Melina Catherine Herrman of Lewiston; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Preceding him in death were three brothers, Albert, William and Otto, one sister, Louise, one son, John Harold, and one stepdaughter, Marsha Bohman Walker.

Memorials may be made to Northwest Children's Home, 419 22nd Ave., Lewiston, Idaho 83501 or Idaho 4-H Endowment Fund, University of Idaho, Morrill Hall.