Ronald Thue
April 15, 1932-July 6, 2017
Ronald D. Thue, 85,
lifelong resident of Willi-
ams County, North Dako-
ta, passed away peaceful-
ly Thursday morning, July
6, 2017 at the Bethel Luth-
eran Nursing and Rehabil-itation Center in Willis-
ton.
His funeral will be cele-
brated Monday morning,
July 10, 2017 at 11:00 AM
at Light of Christ Lutheran
Church in Williston. Rev.
Scott Neumann will offici-ate and interment will
take place at approximate-ly 2:30 PM at the
Wheelock Cemetery,
Wheelock, ND.
Ron was born April
15th, 1932, in Williston to
Kenneth and Gladys (Jor-
genson) Thue and raised
in Wheelock, ND. He gra-
duated from Wheelock
High School in 1950 and
from Concordia College in
Moorhead, MN with a
bachelor’s degree in edu-
cation in 1954. Ron spent
his college summers
working in Williams
County as a surveyor for
North Dakota Soil Conser-
vation Service and the
highway department.
While he was growing up,
Ron developed his pas-
sion for baseball, both
playing in Ray and listen-ing to major league games
on the radio. He learned
his work ethic while
working at his
grandfather’s store, Thue’s
General Merchandise.
After graduating from
Concordia, Ron was draft-
ed into the U.S. Army
during the Korean War.
He served as a medic at
an Army base hospital
near Frankfurt, Germany.
Upon his discharge in
1956, Ron returned home
to Williams County to be-
gin his 43 year teaching
career, first in Epping,
then in Trenton, and fi-
nally settling at the junior
high in Williston where
he taught Social Studies,
History and Geography for
40 years. In his early
years of teaching, Ron
pursued and received his
Master’s degree in educa-
tion from the University
of Northern Colorado in
Greeley, CO. Equally im-
portant to his career in
education was his contin-ued passion for sports,
which he cultivated with
a long and distinguished
career as a coach and offi-
cial. Well known in ND
and MT for his basketball
officiating, this career ul-
timately resulted in his
being inducted into the
North Dakota High School
Activities Association Of-
ficials Hall of Fame in
2009. Ron also took great
pride in being an assistant
coach on Williston’s girl’s
state basketball cham-
pionship team in 1976.
In 1967, Ron married
Janice Johnson of Carpio,
ND, and they spent their
50 years together in
Williston, including his
last few years living to-
gether at Bethel Home.
Ron had an active role in
several area Lutheran
churches, including sup-
ply preaching at
Wheelock Lutheran
Church and other area
congregations, teaching
confirmation, serving as a
trustee at Our Redeemer’s
Lutheran, and was
currently a member of
Light of Christ Lutheran
Church in Williston. In
addition to his teaching
career, Ron was a long-
time employee of Creigh-
ton Motors in Williston
and after retirement he
worked for Delany Recy-
cling.
Ron is survived by: his
wife of 50 years, Jan, his
daughters Rachel (Steve)
Simonson of Billings, ND
and Sarah (Karl) Carlson
of Mandan, ND, his
grandchildren Andrew,
Maren, and Annika Carl-
son and his sister Jeanie
Thue of Park Rapids, MN.
He was preceded in
death by: his parents Ken-
ny and Gladys and his sis-
ters Marilyn and Linda.
Memorials are suggest-
ed to the Williston Coyote
Foundation, Light of
Christ Lutheran Church or
the Bethel Lutheran Foun-
dation.
Friends may visit
www.everson
coughlin.com to share
remembrances of Ron or
leave condolences for his
family.
Visitation: will be in the
Chapel on Sunday, July
9th at Bethel Lutheran
Nursing and Rehabilita-
tion Center from 4:00 PM
until 7:00 PM and on
Monday, July 10th at the
church for the hour
preceding the funeral.
The Everson Coughlin
Funeral Home of Willis-
ton is caring for the fami-
ly.