ELMER THONE, 76

(veteran)

Elmer L. Thone, 76, of Kennard died Thursday, Nov. 6, 1997 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Home in Blair.

Services were Monday at First Lutheran Church in Blair. Rev. R. Joe Marek and Rev. Kenneth Jensen officiated. A Masonic service was held Sunday at the Campbell-Aman Funeral Home. Burial was in the Blair Cemetery with military honors conducted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1251.

Mr. Thone was born Oct. 3, 1921 in Herman to Elmer L. and Edna (Mathews) Thone. He attended the Thone School and graduated from Blair High School in 1939. On Aug. 20, 1942, he entered the Army and was stationed in the European Theatre as an engineer in water purification. He was discharged Oct. 13, 1945. On May 31, 1950, he married Gwendolyn Johnson. They farmed in the Herman and Kennard areas. He also worked with the ASCS, and for Crop Insurance and Certified Seed Cleaning.

He was a member of the VFW, volunteered at the recycling center, had been on the VFW firing squad since 1945; was commander of the VFW No. 1251 in Blair; was a Kennard Fire District member and volunteer; was a member of First Lutheran Church and had been a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 222 for over 50 years and of the York Rite.

Survivors are his daughter, Gail Petersen of Westminster, Calif.; five grandchildren, Shane Petersen, Sherry Petersen, Sheila Welshofer, Darren and Danica Roesch; five great-grandchildren; one brother and sister-in-law, James and Leona Thone of Blair; a sister and brother-in-law, Ila and Orville Widger of Wauneta, Neb.; nieces, nephews and many friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Gwen in 1990; and one grandson, David Roesch.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska~~~