Alviah Thielke

Alviah Lowell Thielke was born in South Bend, Indiana on May 1, 1930 along with his twin sister Leota, the babies of the family as children number 7 and 8. At age 17, Al enlisted in the Marine Corps and attended boot camp in Parris Island, SC. Voted "best dressed" at boot camp, Al was featured on postcards and in news articles (if there was a "best looking" award at Parris Island, you can guess who would have won that, too). Coincidentally, it was in a news article about Beaufort High School's Valedictorian that he first laid eyes on top-student Eva Bowers, and famously told his friends, "I'm going to marry that girl." He did just that in 1951 and they were married for more than 73 years. Al referred to Eva as "the love of his life" every day of his life.

Al continued his military career for 21 years. He served 13 months in the Korean War, was stationed in many cities and states in the US, and spent time in Okinawa, Japan. Al was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation Medal, Korean Presidential Citation, Korean Service Medal with 3 stars, Good Conduct Medal (6th Award), and Rifle and Pistol Expert badges.

Al was ordained into the ministry in 1964. As he was still an active Marine (and now an ordained Baptist minister), Al would often serve in the role of "Chaplain" even though that was not an official role within the USMC, always there to support and pray with fellow service members.

At retirement from the Marine Corps, Al accepted his first full-time role as a minister at a small Baptist Church near Eva's family in South Carolina. He pastored two churches in South Carolina before deciding to expand into yet a third career. Al continued to serve as an interim minister while working full-time as the Public Relations and Marketing Director for a growing Augusta Technical College, where he worked for 20 years before deciding it was time to retire.

But those who knew Al knew that "rest and relaxation" wasn't in the cards for his retirement. Al had worked multiple jobs simultaneously throughout his life, often attending college at night. He never took a "real" vacation; vacations were for doing projects for others. In retirement, his motto was "have tools, what's the project?" And "have bags, will travel!"

And travel he did. Al and Eva purchased an RV and visited most every state in the US and Canada. Often, they would pick up Mom's sister, Nadine, and would head off for as long as they desired. Sometimes, their cat Meisha would even tag along. Upon returning from their RV trips, Al loved telling stories about the amazing natural wonders they saw and the huge helpings of breakfast he enjoyed at diners across the country.

When Al and Eva relocated to Atlanta, they continued to travel, met many friends, participated regularly in church activities, enjoyed eating out and playing cards, and worked out regularly. They always took time to participate in their granddaughters' activities, traveling back and forth between Atlanta and Augusta for holidays, graduations, productions of "The Nutcracker," and, of course, any handyman projects that needed his help.

His family was indeed his pride and joy. He is survived by his wife of 73 years, Eva Bowers Thielke, as well as his son, Fred Thielke; daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and David Williams; 4 granddaughters, Becca Manton, Katie Groupe and husband Johnny Groupe, Abbie Thielke and husband Alex Sherard, and Cat Gunderson and husband Jack Gunderson; 3 great-grandsons, Jack Manton, Jack Groupe, and Freddie Groupe; and 2 great granddaughters, Millie Manton and Ellie Groupe; and many nieces and nephews.

Al always made helping others his top priority. To honor his lifetime of service, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Toys for Tots https://www.toysfortots.org/support-us/donate-in-memory-or-in-honor/ and Tunnels to Towers Foundation https://t2t.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/In-Memory-of-Online-Form_Interactive-Online-Form.pdf, two causes near and dear to Al's heart.

Family and friends will gather for visitation Monday January 13, 2024 from 1:00 PM until 2:00 PM at A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home & Crematory, 2773 N Decatur Rd Decatur, GA 30033, followed by a Celebration of Life Service at 2:00 PM in the chapel. Interment will be held on January 14, 2024 at Beaufort National Cemetery, 1601 Boundary St. Beaufort, SC 29902 at 2:00 PM with full military honors.