Maurice Thole

LANCASTER - Maurice LaVern "Maurie" Thole was born January 26, 1938, in Glen Haven Township, Wisconsin to Sylvester Nicholas and Evelyn Gertrude (Meier) Thole and died due to complications of Parkinson’s disease on Thursday, January 13, 2022, at Orchard Manor Nursing Home, rural Lancaster. Maurie graduated from Cassville High School and on March 10, 1956, married Susan Groom. He owned and operated Maurie’s Auto Body in Bloomington, Wisconsin before buying into and eventually owning Lancaster Auto Body in Lancaster, Wisconsin. Maurie served on the advisory board in the auto body program at Southwest Technical College for 25 years and was a charter member of the Wisconsin Auto Collision Technicians Association Ltd. He was a member of the Lancaster Lions Club and a Melvin Jones Fellow recipient and was a Third-Degree Life member of the Knights of Columbus and was a 50-year member of the Catholic Knights. Maurie also served on the Lancaster police and fire commission. He was an avid sports fan be it Badgers, Packers, Brewers, or Lancaster Arrows (or in the pre-cable days when an Iowa TV station or Chicago radio station were the only options, it was Hawkeyes and Cubbies). He was at many games, meets and matches of children and grandchildren.
We remember him as a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, who loved to play cards and to hunt and trap shoot. He was a collector of guns and old toys, particularly Marx toys and spent many hours “antiquing” with his loving wife.
He is survived by his loving wife, Susan; five children: Brenda (John) Majewski, David (Tracy Hanfeld), Kimberley Polly, Robert (Amy) and Richard (Deanna). He is further survived by 15 grandchildren and four great-grandsons; one brother, Monroe (Mary Ann) Thole.
His parents and one sister, Wilma Thole Decker, predeceased him.
A private Mass of Christian burial will be held on Monday January 17, 2022, at 10:15 a.m. at St. Clement Catholic Church in Lancaster with Fr. William Vernon officiating. Burial will be in the Cassville Cemetery, Cassville, Wisconsin. Mass will be livestreamed on Martin Schwartz Funeral Home & Crematory Facebook on Monday, January 17, 2022, at 10:15 a.m.
A Celebration of life will be held Saturday July 30, 2022 from 12:00 noon until 4 p.m. at Eckstein Building, Grant County Fair Grounds. Hamburgers and brats will be served in a casual setting. Memorials may be directed to Martin Schwartz Funeral Home & Crematory, P.O. Box 30, Lancaster, Wisconsin 53813, with proceeds being given to Grant County Hospice, Lancaster Rescue Squad and the Michael J. Fox Foundation to end Parkinson’s.
We wish to extend our sincere gratitude for the care and compassion shown to our family by the staff at Orchard Manor Nursing Home, and Grant County Hospice.