Marge Thiele, 90

Margaret (Marge) Frances Thiele, age 90, of Sturgis, passed away Wednesday, July 7, 2010, at Sturgis Hospital.

She was born July 14, 1919, in Chicago, a daughter of the late Anthony L. and Margaret (Miller) Schuster.

Marge started her career in Chicago, working as a secretary in an advertising agency. There, she met Frederic W. Thiele Sr. They were married in 1941.

During the early 1940s she was stationed with her husband on U.S. Army assignments in St. Louis, Seattle, Yokohama, Japan, and Fort Sheridan, Ill. In 1942, they made Brookside Farm, Colon, their permanent home.

In 1984, Marge moved to Sturgis. While living in Colon, she was an active member of the Colon Garden Club, the Colon library board, local school PTA’s, and was a founding member of St. Barbara’s Catholic Church.

Marge enjoyed gatherings, gardening, oil painting, traveling and volunteer work for her church, the St. Joseph County Council on Aging and the Pregnancy Crisis Line.

While a member of Holy Angels Catholic Church for the past 25 years, she had been very active in the altar society, Holy Angels Seniors and prayer circles.

She enjoyed 20 years of traveling that took her all over the world: Israel, Russia, Egypt, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Ireland and all throughout the British Isles. Her painting also brought her much joy. She not only painted, but also attended many art classes, and exhibited her art in shows at the Sturges Young Auditorium.

She was married to Frederic William Thiele Sr. for 34 years. He preceded her in death on April 19, 1975.

Surviving Marge are her children, Carolyn (Kenneth) Hall of St. Simons Island, Ga., and Anne (Richard) Messner of Sturgis; daughter-in-law Elizabeth Jane (Thiele) Pinder of Conifer, Colo.; a goddaughter, Margaret (George) Dinklenburg of Libertyville, Ill.; five grandchildren, Elizabeth (Mark) Knudsen of Rockport, Mass., Stephanie (Benjamin) Bolton of Sautee, Ga., Anthony (Kate) Messner of Sturgis, Frederic (Brianne) Thiele of Dusseldorf, Germany, and Michael Pinder of Conifer; great-grandchildren Kai and Masha Knudsen, Adelyn, Clayton, and Aubrey Bolton, and Aiden and Giselle Thiele.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a son, Frederic William Thiele Jr.; father and mother-in-law, Victor and Ida Thiele; and three sisters, Dolores (LeRoy) Scheffner, Lucille Schuster and Rosemary Schuster.

A Funeral Mass celebrating the life of Margaret F. Thiele was held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Sturgis, with the Rev. Father Richard Altine, celebrant.

Graveside services took place at 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Edwards Catholic Cemetery in Mendon.

The family suggests memorial donations be directed to Holy Angels Catholic Church or St. Edwards Catholic Cemetery Fund. Envelopes are available at the Hackman Family Funeral Home Rosenberg Chapel in Sturgis.