Alfred Morden Thym

After a valiant struggle with cancer and Parkinson’s disease, Alfred (Al) Thym passed away peacefully and quietly on November 8th in a circle of loving family at the home he had designed and built 62 years before. He was 93 years old.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years Alliene, his daughter Nancy (Rudi) and son Howard (Joy), his grandchildren Alfred (Emily), Heather, Rudi, Ryan (Jackie), Robyn and Alliene (Travis).

Al was born on March 6, 1921 in Mokelumne Hill, CA to Alfred and Alice Marie Thym. He grew up on a dairy and chicken farm near Valley Springs, CA and attended a one room school house from 1st to 8th grade. He then attended Calaveras High School in San Andreas. Al studied electrical engineering at U.C. Berkeley and competed on the gymnastics team. During and after World War II Al worked for the Army Signal Corp as an anti-aircraft radar instructor and radio operator under General MacArthur in Hawaii and Japan. After World War II he went on to get a Master’s Degree in agricultural engineering at U.C. Davis. He continued to work there as a researcher and teacher until he joined the Soil Conservation Service, which eventually brought him to Auburn. He owned and operated his own fruit orchard where he tried out the new methods he had developed at U.C. Davis and was very proud of his system which lead to increased crop yield among the fruit farmers of Placer County. After retiring from the Soil Conservation Service in 1977, he opened his own office on Oak Street as a civil engineer where he continued to work until the age of 91.

Al had many and varied passions. He loved music and dance and taught international folk dancing in Sacramento and Loomis for over 20 years. It was at a folk dancing camp in 1950 that he met his future wife Alliene Snelling. They married May 5, 1951; their daughter Nancy was born in 1952 and their son Howard in 1954. Al was an enthusiastic member of the Sierranader Barbershop Chorus and also played the accordion.

Together with 3 friends he founded the Auburn Unitarian Church in 1965. With great satisfaction and pride he has watched the small group grow into the present flourishing Sierra Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church. He was a founding and active member of the Auburn Hotline crisis intervention service during the 1970s.

Al learned to fly during his days in the army. He was an avid flyer and often made the trip to the annual fly-in in Oshkosh, WI in his Piper Cherokee. He was a member of the Auburn Aviation Association and the Experimental Aircraft Association. One of his greatest joys was to introduce young people to flying through the Young Eagles Program. He also designed and engineered the 10 hangers at the Auburn Airport. He was a member of the Placer Camera Club and spent many hours photographing landscapes and plants with his Hasselblad camera. He was also a member of the Freemasons Bay Cities Lodge No. 337.

We would like to thank the doctors, our caregivers, the hospice program and the Unitarian church for their support.

And thanks to you Al, for hanging in there so long for us.

Donations in Al Thym’s name can be made to the hospice program or the Sierra Foothills Unitarian Universalists.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, November 29, 2014 at 10:30am at the Sierra Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church, 190 Finley St. (corner of Finley & Orange) in Auburn.