Samuel Henry Thielke

Samuel (Sam) Henry Thielke (76) of Mesa, Arizona passed away on Monday, December 21, 2020 at 6:30am. Sam was born in Iowa Falls, Iowa to Henry William and Eva Mae (Welterlen) Thielke. Sam graduated from Ackley-Geneva High School in 1962 and went on to graduate from Hamilton Business college in Mason City, Iowa in 1964 where he met and married his wife, Helen (Stirling). They established their first home in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area where he worked for Iowa Electric until 1976. During that time, Sam and Helen welcomed their children Julie (1967) and Brent (1976). Later that year the family moved to Grand Rapids, MN and established, owned and operated a Pizza Hut franchise. In the summer of 1980, the family moved back to Marion, Iowa and Sam joined Berry Development. In 1985, Sam took an opportunity to work for Long John Silvers and in August of that year transferred to Mesa, AZ where the family settled their Southwest roots. In the early 1900s Sam graduated from Real Estate Appraisal School and went to work for the State of Arizona in the Department of Revenue until his retirement in 2008. From 1995 and until his death he was managing partner of Thielke Family Farms, the owner of the 150+ year family farm near Ackley, Iowa that has been awarded the Century and Heritage Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Sam loved to travel with family and friends. As the kids were growing up, the family enjoyed trips around the United States, many which included the Fesslers, Berrys and Witkins. Before moving to Arizona, the family had a cabin at Lake Delhi in Iowa where Sam spent many weekends, summers, and winters boating, fishing, and snowmobiling with family and friends. He enjoyed it so much that after moving to Arizona the family purchased another cabin on Lake Delhi where he spent summer vacations with the newest members of the Thielke family. After a few years, the family decided that they wanted a get-away a little closer to home and purchased a Cabin in Payson to enjoy cooler summers up North and warmer winters in the Valley of the Sun and appreciated spending leisure time on the golf course.

Family, friends, travel, food and sports were Sam's favorite things. Hawaii was one of Sam's favorite destinations after first visiting Maui with college friends in the late 1990s. In 2014, he combined all his favorite things on a family cruise through the Mexican Riviera to celebrate his 70th birthday and 50th wedding anniversary. Sam passed on his love of sports to his daughter, son and grandson Sammy while always cheering for the home team. He was an avid fan of the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks along with the collegiate sports of the University of Iowa and Arizona State University. Sam's faith was very important to him. During this time on earth he served as an elder and was a current member on the finance committee at First Presbyterian Church of Mesa.

Sam was preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his wife Helen Kay, daughter Julie Marie Packey (Chris) of Gilbert, AZ and son Brent Henry (Shannon) Thielke of Trabuco Canyon, CA along with grandchildren Sammy Shane Packey, Christopher Jeremy Packey, Meisha Amberlee Scott and Felicia Lorraine Packey and Great Grandson Brody Christopher Nowak.

In memory of Sam, love offerings may be made to the Arizona Human Society, First Presbyterian Church of Mesa or to your favorite charity in Sam's name. Services will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Mesa on Monday, January 11th at 11:00am.