Obituary of John William Theisen

HOLY CROSS, IOWA John William “Bill” Theisen, 88, of Holy Cross passed away Saturday, December 21, 2019, at MercyOne Senior Care in Dyersville. Visitation will be held from 3 - 7 p.m. Thursday, December 26, 2019, at Kramer Funeral Home in Holy Cross where a parish vigil service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Visitation will continue at the funeral home from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Friday prior to funeral services. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 27, 2019, at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Holy Cross with burial in the church cemetery at a later date. Rev. Noah Diehm will officiate and Rev. Al Vorwald will concelebrate. Bill was born August 20, 1931, in Holy Cross, the son of Lawrence and Cecilla (Pfeiler) Theisen. He married Elizabeth Herbst on November 17, 1953, in Asbury, Iowa. They were members of the Holy Cross Catholic Church. Family and fun were his priorities. Bill worked at the Battery Factory until it closed in 1956; he then went to work at the Creamery in Holy Cross until he started driving milk truck. In 1959, he bought his own milk truck which he owned and operated under John “Bill” Theisen and Son until 1973. After that, he began driving for Theisen’s Distributing in Dubuque and then Paisley Trucking until his retirement. He was involved in establishing the HC/NBV Fire Department and became the first Assistant Chief, among many other volunteer activities with the HC Athletic Club and High School Athletic activities. He enjoyed driving a group to Chicago for the annual Cubs/Cardinals game, and driving the bus for local semi-pro team. Survivors include his children: Diane (Dave) Ronek of Cascade, Cheri (Joe) Oglesby of Cuba City, Wis., Jack (Jodee) Theisen of Holy Cross, Lori (Rich) Oglesby of Cuba City, Wis. and Lisa (Randy) Wolf of Dallas Center, Iowa; grandchildren: Renee (fiance′ Jordan) Ambrosy, Sarah Ambrosy, Jeremy (Jennifer) Ambrosy, Brandon (Becky) Oglesby, Amy (Dan) McGovern, Alli, Jeff and Hanna Theisen, Jason (Angie), Tanner (Kayla), Sadie, Sawyer, Tessa, Jayna and Carson Oglesby, Lucas and Miranda Wolf; great grandchildren, Maggie, Griffin and Lucee McGovern, Addison and Henry Ambrosy, Veronica Ambrosy-Weir, Ashlyn and Taylor Oglesby and two more Oglesby’s expected; siblings: Jim Theisen and Rita Theisen; in-laws: Bill Bohr, Anita (Jim) Gulyash and Sylvia Dietz. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty, in 2011, a son, Jeff in infancy; his parents and parents-in-law, Leo and Elizabeth Herbst, a sister, Mary Kay Bohr, in-laws: Shirley Theisen, Florence (Charles) Weiland, Arlene (Charlie) Chapman, Rosie (Tom) Ehrlich, Leo J. (Toots) Herbst, LaVon (Leo) Abitz and Ken Dietz. Special thanks to the staff at Oak Crest/MercyOne Senior Care where he was known as “Big Bill” and “Billiam”, for the wonderful care and companionship. Thanks, also, to the staff of Hospice of Dubuque for the wonderful guidance over the last 9 months.