Obituary of Francis Michael Thury

Armour – Francis Michael Thury, 95, went to his heavenly home on Monday, August 28 at his home in Armour.  Funeral mass will be Saturday, September 2 at 10:00 am at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Armour.  Visitation will be Friday, September 1 from 5 to 7 pm, with a 7:00 pm prayer service, at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Armour.  Arrangements by Koehn Bros. Funeral Home in Armour.

Francis was born December 12, 1927 to Frank and Theresa (Laber) Thury in Parkston, SD.  He attended Parkston High School, graduating in 1945.  After graduation, he worked for his uncle, Henry Friedrich, on the farm.  He was united in marriage to Delores Krueger on December 1, 1955 in Parkston.  He served his country in the United States Army at the end of World War II and at Camp Richardson from February 7, 1946 until being honorably discharged on May 24, 1947.  He returned to Parkston where he worked for Priebe and Sons picking up eggs and cream and later for Wudel Oil.  He moved to Armour, SD in 1957 where he worked for Wudel Chevrolet for 14 years, Nolz Chevrolet and Nikodym Oil Company. He was a member of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church where he served as a Lector, the American Legion, Knights of Columbus and served on the Armour City Council.  He loved to play baseball and played until his arm gave out at which time the doctor recommended bowling!  He bowled a long time in Armour and on traveling teams and was the secretary of ABC.  When not coaching legion baseball, he could be found in a boat fishing or in a goose pit.  He also loved to play pinnocle with the guys uptown and could not wait to win those dimes!  He enjoyed mowing and insisted that he be the only one to do it. 

Grateful for having shared his life are his 4 daughters: Rebecca Thury of Armour; Barbara (Russ) Ledeboer of Armour; Louise (Mark) Van Den Hoek of Mitchell, SD; and Mary Thury of Minneapolis, MN; 8 grandchildren, Georgia Thury-Anderson, Logan (Alexis) Ledeboer, Allyson Ledeboer, Tori (Tony) Grier, Marti Bannwarth, Chad (Kate) Van Den Hoek, Elijah and Ava Grathwol; 6 great-grandchildren; 6 siblings: Gereldine Pichart of Sioux Falls, SD; Maxine Hohn of Sioux Falls; Linus (Ruth) Thury of Lakewood, CO; Larry (Jan) Thury of Sioux Falls; Benedict Thury of Denver, CO; and Janet (Russell) Trunde Tsukamoto of Las Cruces, NM.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Delores in 2016; 2 brothers,  Norbert and Kenneth; and 4 sisters, Marcella Herrmann, Florence Hoeltzner, Theresa Schmidt, and Marcia Thury.