Marie Thomes

Marie J. Thomes, age 90 of Melrose, died Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at the Melrose Area Hospital in Melrose.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, September 22, 2008 at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose with Rev. Vince Lieser and Rev. Ken Thielman officiating. Interment will be held in the parish cemetery.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday and 8 to 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 101 and Schanhaar-Otte VFW Post 7050 Auxiliary will pray at 6 p.m. followed by parish prayers at 7 p.m. Sunday evening at the funeral home.

Marie Thomes was born November 29, 1917 in St. Martin, Minnesota to Henry and Ida (Luken) Poepping. She attended St. Martin Country School through the eighth grade in St. Martin. On October 15, 1940, she was united in marriage to Aloys "Al" Thomes at Saint Martin Catholic Church in St. Martin. Marie was a homemaker and mother on the farm until 1962. Since then, she has been employed at Jennie-O Foods, Hardware Hank, Melrose Public School System, and the New Munich Ballroom for over 30 years. After retiring, Marie volunteered for many organizations.

She was a member of Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose, Christian Mothers, and the Senior Citizens. Marie was also the past president of Schanhaar-Otte VFW Post 7050 Auxiliary and treasurer of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 101. She loved playing cards, BINGO, crocheting, quilting, and gardening.

Survivors include her children, Lila (David) Thomas of Avon, JoAnn (Jerry) Loecken of Plymouth, Jerry (Gloria) Thomes of Cushing, Ken (Kathy) Thomes of Melrose, Mary Kay (Ron) Althaus of Melrose, Karen (Greg) Studer of St. Cloud, and Brenda (Dave) Blonigen of Avon; 26 grandchildren; 37 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren; brothers, Joe, Jerome, Ralph, and Al Poepping; and sisters, Bernie Ramler and Beata Theis.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Aloys "Al" Thomes on April 25, 2002; infant daughter; infant granddaughter; brothers, Norbert and Frank Poepping; brothers-in-law, Henry Hallerman and Pete Ramler; and sister-in-law, Tillie Poepping.

Serving as casket bearers will be Jason Olk, Kevin Loecken, Chris Thomes, Mary Thomes, Kyle Thomes, Dustin Blonigen, Chad Althaus, and Katie Studer. Cross bearer will be Jacqueline Huver and scripture bearer will be Heidi Rademacher.