Gerhardt Bruno Thamm

" Grief is the price we pay for love"– Queen Elizabeth II
Gerhardt Bruno Thamm, who would have been ninety-five on 4 June, passed away peacefully on 29 May 2025 after a slow decline in health over the past couple of years. His devoted wife Suanne Zuzel Thamm, who had been struggling with a growing health concern for the past two years, took a rapid turn for the worst in the past sixty days and passed away from what turned out to be a lung infection on Friday just short of thirty days after Gerhardt's passing at the age of seventy-nine. Both were surrounded by a loving family in their final days, a family that has struggled in the enormity of both passing together in such a brief period of time.
Although it is tearful that Gerhardt is no longer with us, he lived a life full of rich adventures. His family and friends admired and enjoyed hearing his many exciting storytellings about his career as one of many American patriots who risked their lives in defending our country against the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Many of these stories are documented in books written by Gerhardt: "Boy Soldier: A German Teenager at the Nazi Twilight", Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc. of Jefferson, NC, published 2000; "The Making of a Spy - Memoir of a German Boy Soldier Turned American Army Intelligence Agent," Publishers: McFarland & Company, Inc. of Jefferson, NC, published 2010; "Dear Helga", Paperback, Publisher: The Saltmarsh Press, St. Simons Island, GA 31522, published 2014; and "Room 526: Espionage, Intrigue and Clandestine Brotherhood". Publisher: The Saltmarsh Press, St. Simons Island, GA 31522; published 2015.
Gerhardt was born in Detroit, Michigan in June 1930 and lived in Germany from 1932 until 1948. From 12 February until 10 May 1945 he served as a "Boy Soldier" on the Eastern Front, with the 54th Jäger Regiment of the 100th Jäger Division.
After the war, he and his family spent sixteen months as Soviet Army slave laborers on what was formerly their large farm estate in Jauer, a small town in Silesia, a former Prussian province in what was then southeast Germany.
In 1946, the Polish government deported them from their Jauer home in the largest, United Nations-sanctioned, "ethnic cleansing" operation in history with approximately twelve million Germans forced to leave; we re-settled in northern West Germany.
He later returned to the United States on 21 February 1948 and in March of that year joined the U. S. Army.
In 1953, he was assigned and entered the Military Intelligence School in Fort Riley, Kansas, then was transferred overseas to 513th MIG at Camp King in Oberursel, Germany. In late 1953, he was again re-assigned and attended Advanced Course, Clandestine Intelligence, at Oberursel, Germany. After completion, he became a Special Agent, U.S. Army clandestine case officer and spent a dangerous three years in Europe working in counterintelligence.
Later, he served in the Pentagon NATO Document Security Force and still later as team chief for 410th and 411th US Army Security Special Operations Units with assignments in Fort Meade, Maryland and then back to Germany at Frankfurt and Herzogenaurach (outside Nürnberg).
Gerhardt eventually retired from the US Army in June 1968 and worked briefly for the Library of Congress (Federal Research Branch). From 1970 to 1984, he served as an intelligence analyst with Naval Intelligence Support Center (NISC). Thereafter he was an Operations Officer with Navy Task Force 168 (CTF 168) and then transferred into AT-10, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), as HUMINT Operations Officer.
After retiring from DIA in 1987, Gerhardt created with his partner, Lou Zammarella, a series of lectures on counterespionage and security topics in basic and advanced security training. They conducted those courses at the Pentagon for government employees of the offices of Secretary of Defense (OSD) and Joint Chiefs of Staff (OJCS) between 1988-2002.
After an exciting and sometimes turbulent career, he peacefully retired in Fernandina Beach, Florida with loving wife, Suanne, who in a heart-breaking development passed away just short of 30 days after Gerhardt's passing. Suanne meant the world to Gerhardt, and Gerhardt meant the world to her. Even as she fought for her own life, Suanne said to her family in her last couple of weeks that she felt she had accomplished what she considered her major mission in life by being able to care lovingly for Gerhardt as his health deteriorated. She was always someone who deeply cared for others and her community, even if it meant sacrificing her own growing health concerns.
In Fernandina Beach, Suanne was best known as the co-founder of the Fernandina Observer, an author, and local historian. Suanne was born on the 25th of May 1946 in Dunkirk, N.Y., as Suanne Zuzel. She graduated Cum Laude in 1968 from Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. with an A.B. in Russian Area Studies and later attended Georgetown University, Washington, DC where she studied Demography in support of her intelligence assessment profession.
Suanne started her career at the Federal Research Division (FRD) at the Library of Congress (LoC) using her skills as a Russian linguist to research Soviet publications to support Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessments regarding the Demographic composition of the Soviet Union. She held a high security clearance and met periodically with officials of DIA to present her assessments.
Her boss at the FRD introduced her to Gerhardt, and their lives became a true love story between them. As he wrote in the Thamm Family history book following a difficult, painful parting with his first wife Ann: "But, after every dark cloud there comes a ray of sunshine. While at the Library of Congress I met a number of interesting people and my boss at the library of Congress introduced me to Suanne Elizabeth Zuzel of Dunkirk, New York. This wonderful girl would eventually agree to marry me. Only God knows why! Here was this wonderful, highly intelligent girl in her early twenties, with a great future facing her, and she agreed to marry this divorced, broken-down old Army Sergeant with three children -- one, Erik, already enrolled at William & Mary. Suanne became my Rock of Gibraltar. She is my best friend; my lover, my wife, and she made my third life (Germany, Army, and now post-Army) worth living."
Suanne later transferred into the LoC proper and worked in various library functions until she retired as the Assistant Executive Officer of Processing Services, the largest division of LoC.
As an intelligence operative's wife, Suanne had many out-of-the-ordinary experiences. Among them was traveling clandestinely through foreign lands to give Gerhardt "tourist cover." She also met some unusual people. Among those were Ollie North, Lt. Col USMC (ret,), and Jose Fernandez, former CIA Station Chief at San Jose, Costa Rica, of Iran-Contra fame.
During the Iran-Contra time, Gerhardt met Jose in Costa Rica while coordinating DIA HUMINT collection. The government later tried to screw Jose over the Iran-Contra scandal in the late 1980s by trying to pin the blame on him for the fiasco. However, the "Agency" (as the CIA is commonly known) did not release the pertinent documents to the courts that were needed to convict him. The CIA termed the documents "too classified." However, without those documents the prosecution could not prove their case against Jose and the charges were eventually dismissed by the courts.
Gerhardt was one of those who supported Jose during his trial and he and Suanne were invited to his Victory Party. At the party, Gerhardt and Suanne met many interesting characters including Ollie's famous "I am not a potted plant" attorney, Brendan Sullivan.
After Suanne and Gerhardt moved to Fernandina Beach, Florida, Suanne participated actively in Republican politics as a moderate Republican. She became President of Republican Women of Nassau County and became a member of the Amelia Museum of History.
There she also organized and operated the Library of Congress Veterans History Program. She recruited interviewers to record the history of Nassau County military veterans.
Governor JEB Bush, of Florida, appointed Suanne to the Board of Directors of Florida Community College Jacksonville (FCCJ), which later became Florida State College, Jacksonville (FSCJ). Always a strong advocate for better education, Suanne served on the District Board of Trustees for Florida State College at Jacksonville for 14 years and held the position of Vice Chair for Nassau County.
During the early 2000s, Along with Susan Steger, she co-founded the Fernandina Observer in 2012 and reported on local government agencies, its associated city projects, and other topics for the next 10 years.
She also authored a book, "Saving Fernandina 1972-78." The book highlights the transformation of the downtown area during a crucial time for historic preservation in Fernandina Beach. The book's content reflects the community's dedication to maintaining its unique sense of place and historical character.
She established and co-chaired the local Veterans History Project at the Amelia Island Museum, a partnering institution with the Library of Congress. Civic activities included serving on the Historic District Council for the city of Fernandina Beach, two City Charter Review Committees, and the steering committees for both Vision 2000 and Forward Fernandina.
During those years as a reporter and later as an engaged citizen, Suanne made many dear friends while providing a constructive, thoughtful voice in local community affairs.
Gerhardt was preceded in death by his sibling Helga Thamm Tibbetts. Gerhardt was the beloved father of Erik, Erwin, the late Renita; the proud grandfather of Brian, Erik Christopher, Colleen, Stephen, and Jessica; and great-grandchildren Felix, Charlotte (Charli), Astrid, and Tavian.
Suanne was preceded in death by her brother Martin and is survived by her brother Tim. Her love continues through her nephew Joseph, her niece Elizabeth, and her great-nieces Maribelle and Eliza.
A Celebration of Life for Gerhardt and Suanne will be held for Family and Friends on Monday, 21 July 2025 from 5-7 at Story & Song Bookstore Bistro/Center for Arts and Culture, located at 1430 Park Avenue in Fernandina Beach.
A joint funeral service and burial will be held at Jacksonville National Cemetery on Tuesday, 22 July 2025 at 11 AM.
In lieu of flowers, please contribute to The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) for Gerhardt and to the American Lung Foundation for Suanne.