Kenneth Thiede Sr.

Kenneth Thiede Sr., 100, of Richland Center formerly of Muscoda died on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, a month short of his 101st birthday, at Pine Valley Community Village, while having his last cup of coffee with the love of his life, his wife Millie. He was born February 18, 1924 the third son and fourth child of William and Minnie (Sorge) Thiede where they lived at Running Brook Stock Farm on County OO in Orion township of Richland County. His older brothers were Clarence and Bernard and his sister Marguerite. Kenneth attended the Indian Creek rural one room school for all 8 years fondly recalling each of his teachers and many stories from his education.
He worked on the family farm with his dad, William Jr., notably through the war years as they milked cows together until the passing of his father. He proudly purchased in June of 1944 his first tractor a Ford 9N, brand new as these were rationed and required a permit which he obtained. Kenneth sawed slabs for 15 winters from 1951 to 1967 using that tractor with a circular saw and an elevator to carry the cut slabs into the trucks. Along with Carl Mueller, they purchased those slabs mostly from Hutchinson's lumber yard in Muscoda and did get some slabs from other area mills such as Grells in Gotham as well as at the lumberyard in Richland Center. The deliveries with his large dump truck with a 4 ton hoist extended into each of the area counties and regular customers were on his delivery list each year. $20 for a load and he got an additional $5 when deliveries went to the west side of Madison.
Kenneth was on the Muscoda School Board for 9 years from 1960 when Avoca joined in with Muscoda including the building of the new high school in 1963 and through the merger with Blue River that would form Riverdale in 1967. He was also a part time bus driver for the district recalling one notable trip taking students to the museums in Chicago.
In the fall of 1967, he got off the board when he took a job at the State of Wisconsin, working nights which he did for 27 years until his retirement. In retirement he stayed active with a rural delivery of the Shopping News for several years which he looked forward to each Tuesday with his pickup that he used for the route. In those retirement years you could often see him regularly making trips to the farm to stay involved in the daily routine.
Kenneth would marry Mildred Ida Mueller in 1956 and celebrated 68 years this past June 6th. He reminisced about all the area roller skating locations that they would go to as each other had their own set of skates during those early years. They would move from the farm in 1963 with three children to live in the Village of Orion until 1974. The family now of 8 with all 6 children would move back to the farm on the north 40 acres building a new ranch style house and they eventually would move back to the original farmhouse by 1987.
The church at St. Peter's Luteran in Muscoda was most important to him as Faith and Family were a main part of Kenneth's life. As his children will confirm Sunday service attendance was expected and many of the activities for the family were centered around church functions. He served as Sunday School Superintendent for over three decades. Kenneth also held several positions on the church council over those many years.
Kenneth is survived by his wife of 68 years, Millie;
Children: Ken Thiede Jr.,
Patty (Dayton) Libansky,
Gerry (Kari) Thiede,
Tim Thiede,
Deb (Chris) Parduhn,
Dan Thiede;
Grandchildren: Milann, Erin, Marie, Bill, Daniel, Trisha, Tyler, Brooke, Addison, Brooklyn, Sawyer, Tucker, and Canaan along with great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 11:00 AM at the Pratt Memorial Chapel with burial to follow in the Muscoda Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at the Pratt Memorial Chapel from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM and again on Wednesday, January, 22 from 10:00 AM until the time of the service at 11:00 AM. To honor Kenneth's enjoyment of the Brewers and Packers the family requests you wear Brewers and Packers clothing to the visitation. The family requests memorials in Ken's name be directed to St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Richland Center, St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Muscoda, or the Riverdale Food Pantry. The Pratt Funeral and Cremation Service is assisting the family with their arrangements.