Mary Margaret (Lillemoe) Thiel, of Montevideo, died Friday, December 29, 2017 at Evansville Senior Living in Evansville, MN at the age of 98.
Memorial services will be held on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 1:00 PM at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Montevideo. Rev. Donald S. McKee will officiate and interment will be at Sunset Memorial Cemetery.
Visitation will be held for one hour before the service at the church.
Mary Margaret Thiel was born on May 23, 1919 to John and Bertha (Scott) Britton in Herrick, SD. She graduated from St. Charles High School in 1935 at the age of 16. She then attended college at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD where she attained a teaching degree. Her first teaching job was at Akaska, SD where she taught grades one through six. In 1940 she accepted a teaching position in Brentford, SD for grades five and six. It was in Brentford where she met the most eligible bachelor in town, Oz Lillemoe and they were untied in marriage on June 5, 1941 in Mt. Vernon, SD. In 1949 the family, with their sons, Raleigh and Jon moved to Montevideo, MN so Oz could be more centrally located with his position with McCabe Brothers Grain Elevators. In 1998 she was married to George Thiel.
Mary Margaret was a member of Eastern Star and held various jobs in retail in Montevideo. For a period of time she was the Director of the Day Activity Center in Montevideo. She was always very active in Our Saviors Lutheran Church and for many years was a dedicated volunteer for Hospice. Mary Margaret’s hobbies included: sewing, crocheting, baking, canning jelly and pickles and Find a Word games. . She particularly enjoyed spending time with her great-grandchildren in recent years and she was very special to them.
She is survived by her son, Raleigh and his wife, Cathie of Alexandria, MN: four grandchildren: Jennifer Dixon of Fargo, ND, Brett (Deanna) Lillemoe of St. Paul, MN, Tait (Amanda) Lillemoe of Bloomington, MN and Heather (Michael) Powell of Baltimore, MD; nine great-grandchildren: Jordyn and Brittany Dixon, Evelyn and Arden Lillemoe, Ozzie and Albina Lillemoe, Alexandra, Eli and Emilia Powell; one sister, Ruth Berneking of Decatur, IL; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her two husbands; her son, Jon; and siblings: Gale, Gordon, Glenn, Bill, Belva, Mona, Polly and Florence.