Greg Thies, 68

Greg was born on Jan. 28, 1953, to Roland and Mary (Kirchner) Thies in New Hampton. 

Greg, his younger sister, Sheryl, and two younger brothers, Tim and Bill, grew up on the family farm outside of Elma, Iowa. They all learned to work hard from a young age, especially after their father became ill. They needed to step up and take over his work. Shortly after his father passed away, they moved into town. 

Greg attended country school through first grade then finished elementary in Elma. He attended Crestwood from junior high to high school, where he graduated in 1971. There, he started to make his mark, especially in sports. He played football and basketball, along with holding many records in track-and-field. His excellence in sports is what led him to continue football at Iowa State University, where he played for Coach John Majors. Along with his love for sports, was a love for speed, which translated into owning many fast cars, including the notorious Super Bee and a red Roadrunner during his college days. Greg graduated from Iowa State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. 

After college, he moved back to Elma and spent many years farming for Max Schmidt and on the family farm. After that, he had various welding jobs including building the High View trailer factory in Alta Vista, where he continued to work with just a short commute from across the road. Most recently, he spent many years working at Featherlite until he retired. 

While in Alta Vista, Greg met the love of his life, Dawn. From this union, his youngest child, Chris, was born, completing their family. Chris joined his four older siblings, Valerie, Naomi, Eric and Brandon. 

One of the things Greg enjoyed most in life was spending time with his family, with a special place in his heart for his grandchildren and, of course, his feline friends. 

Greg was always known to be a very resourceful man who was happy to help his neighbors, family and friends with any difficult job that needed doing. He never met a person he was unable to start a conversation with. His gift of gab and storytelling was something for which he was well-known. Some of the stories he loved to tell most were about his many hunting and fishing trips, as well as the many decades of amazing softball stories from the Thies boys’ glory days. Many in the area still reminisce on all the home runs and spectacular times enjoyed by teammates and the crowd. 

Greg is survived by his loving wife, Dawn; his four children, Valerie (Stacey) Wilberding, Naomi (Jason) Bye, Brandon Thies and Chris (Jacey) Thies; his seven grandchildren, Colter and Hunter Bye, Brady, Samantha and Vanessa Wilberding, Saphira Thies and Elizabeth Njus (daughter of Samantha Njus); his three siblings, Sheryl (Randy) Ferrie, Tim (Lori) Thies, and Bill Thies; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, Roland and Mary Thies; uncle, Walter Thies; son, Eric Njus; and niece, Stephanie Hurst.