Leonard Frederick Thies

Leonard F. Thies, 88, of Waukon, IA, died Thursday, December 13, 2007 at the Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, December 18th at 11:00 am at St. John's Lutheran Church in Waukon, with Rev. Lynn Groe officiating. Burial with military graveside rites will be held in Old West Paint Creek Cemetery, rural Waukon. Friends may call from 4:00 to 8:00 pm on Monday at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Waukon Veterans.


Leonard Frederick Thies was born on 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 5 campaigns. On 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, 2 grand-daughters, Meghan and Elizabeth Thies; 4 brothers, Louis, Howard, Frank and Elmer; 3 sisters, Minerva Frink, Florence Hennessy and Emma Miene.


Honorary casketbearers are his grandsons, Jim, Michael, Vaughn and Eric Mathis, Chris, Carter, TJ, Andrew, Matthew and Mitchell Thies. Casketbearers are Leonard's sons, Jim, Kim, Mark, Larry, Todd and Ronn Thies.