Harvey Thieschafer

Harvey R. Thieschafer, age 84, of Melrose died on Monday, August 26, 2019 at CentraCare (PineVilla) Melrose Health Care Center in Melrose.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, August 31st at Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose with Rev. Kenneth Thielman presiding.  A visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon prior to the service.  Inurnment with military honors provided by the Melrose Veterans Honor Guard will take place in Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Melrose.

Harvey Robert Thieschafer was born August 23, 1935 in Melrose, Minnesota.  He is the son of Joseph and Marie (Wiechmann) Thieschafer.  Harvey attended country school and enrolled in the U.S. Army.  He was honorably discharged June 20, 1956.  During his life, he lived on the family farm north of Melrose, at times at the St. Cloud Veterans Hospital and in his home in Melrose before moving into Pine Villa Nursing Home in 2007.

Harvey was a member of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose.  He enjoyed making poppies for the VA Hospital, listening to “Old Time Music” on KASM, and watching the Minnesota Twins.  At Pine Villa, he especially enjoyed the BINGO games.  Though he struggled with severe epilepsy, he worked hard to be independent.

A special thank you to the staff at Pine Villa Care Center for the wonderful care they provided to Harvey over the past 12 years.

Harvey is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Ron and Betty Thieschafer of Melrose; sister  and brother-in-law, Terry and Ron Butkowski of Melrose; nieces and nephews, Brenda, Jessica, Justin, Sheila, Scott, Tina, and Stacy; thirteen great nieces and nephews; and six great-great nieces and nephews with one on the way.

Harvey was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Marie Thieschafer; nephews, Steven Thieschafer and Christopher Thieschafer; and great nephew, Mitchell Primus.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Juvenile Diabetes of Minnesota and Sauk Centre/Melrose Special Olympics.