Ona Marie Thimgan

Ona Marie Thimgan

West Des Moines

Ona Marie Graves Thimgan, 104, passed away on April 24, 2014 at the Kennybrook Village in Grimes. She was born on February 25, 1910 in Murray, NE to James Howard & Eva Ona (Burton) Graves. She started school in a one room country school near Murray; eventually the family moved to Plattsmouth, NE where she attended the Plattsmouth Schools, graduating from the High School in 1928. She began her teaching career in several rural schools in and around Cass County, NE. It was while teaching at one of these schools near Murdock, NE that she met and eventually married Lester Thimgan in June of 1935. They were blessed with three children, Jane, Sara & Jerry. Her teaching continued at Central Elementary and Plattsmouth Jr. High. During these years, she also attended Omaha University earning her Bachelors in Education in 1957. She took post graduate classes at Drake University in Des Moines.

In 1957 the family moved to West Des Moines, IA where Ona began teaching in the West Des Moines school district. She taught 3rd grade and later remedial reading at Clover Hills, later re-named Rex Mathis, until 1975. She was an active member of the Westchester Evangelical Free Church and the Gideon Auxiliary. She enjoyed reading her Bible and listening to Dr. David Jeremiah. She especially enjoyed her luncheon groups of the Clover Hills teachers and the birthday group from the church. She also loved listening to and watching the Iowa Hawkeyes. Her favorites were Bobby Hanson, Kirk Ferentz and ISU's Fred Hoiberg. She enjoyed following the activities of her grandchildren; Bridget Begley of Oak Park, IL, Brenda Begley of St. Paul, MN, J.J. Begley of Mahtomedi, MN, Brooke Duffy of Rutland Town, VT, Matt Thimgan of Rolla, MO, Mike Thimgan of Bellingham, WA, and D.J. Meisinger of Atanta, TX.

She is survived by her children, Jane Meisinger of Texarkana, TX, Sara (John) Begley of Adel, IA, and Jerry (Fran) Thimgan of Yorba Linda, CA, 7 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, 3 brothers, Clyde, Carl & Joe, and 1 sister Maxine Keil. A Funeral Service will be held on Monday, April 28, 2014 at 10 am at the Westchester Evangelical Free Church, 4919 Aurora Avenue in Des Moines, and the family will greet friends from 9am until service time. Entombment will be next to her husband at the Chapel Hill Gardens Mausoleum. In Lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the Gideons, Hope Ministries or Cass County Historical Museum, Plattsmouth, NE. A special thank you to the staff at Kennybrook Village for the kindness and care. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/desmoinesregister/obituary.aspx?pi...