grave import

Obituary

Robert Thistlethwaite, 91, of Burlington, died at 1:40 p.m. Monday, May 15, 2006, at Great River Medical Center in West Burlington. He was the son of Ossian and Anna Deems Thistlethwaite.Born January 25, 1915, in Udell, Iowa, he grew up on farms in Iowa and Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of nine children - Rex, Milo, Eli, Susan, Helen, Russell, Ruth, and Margaret, all now deceased. He attended one-room schoolhouses, to which he really had to "walk miles through the snow." Robert's first job in Burlington was at the grain elevator, during which time he met his future wife, Nona Binder. They dated and exchanged letters when the war interrupted their courtship. Robert was sergeant of a mortar platoon, serving three and a half years in the famous 79th Infantry Division in World War II. He was one of the first American soldiers to set foot in Charbourg. His platoon was active in four battles, including the Battle of Normandy. He was wounded three times, and returned each time to the front. He was awarded the Purple Heart. At the end of the war, Robert married Nona on June 20, 1946, in the First Presbyterian Church in Burlington, Iowa. He started his primary career with the Post Office, as a railway postal clerk, and then as a clerk in the Burlington Post Office, until he retired in 1977. He was teased out of retirement to work for Samuels Jewerlers in Westland Mall and met many people while working there. His interests were woodworking, playing the fiddle and antique clocks. He remodeled their 1863 home from top to bottom. Together, he and Nona loved the outdoors, and started camping in their late seventies. They enjoyed many pets and backyard furry and feathered friends. He trained a wild squirrel to come into the kitchen, and sit on his knee, eating the walnuts he cracked for her. He celebrated his 90th birthday party in Crapo Park with many friends,and was only a month away from celebrating 60 years of marriage with Nona. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church Survivors include two sons, David (Carol) Thistlethwaite of San Francisco, California and Philip (Catherine) Thistlethwaite of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Besides his siblings, he was preceded in death by his parents. Rev. Bill Salzmann will officiate, with interment in Aspen Grove Cemetery.