Theodore Thon

10/17/1929 — 12/10/2023

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Theodore Harvey Thon passed away peacefully at his home Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023, with his family at his bedside. He was 94.

Harvey was born in Canopis, Saskatchewan, Canada, to Orvin S. and Mary Brown Thon. When he was a toddler, his family moved to Otto, Manitoba, where his father farmed and his mom managed the post office. When he was 17, his family decided to return to the United States, and moved to Lewiston, where his mother’s family lived. He often spoke about studying for and taking his U.S. citizenship test.

He married Janet Gray. They had two sons, Jim and Dale. On Dec. 30, 1961, he married Beverly Ryker. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2011 and 62 years at the time of his passing. They had a daughter, Charlene.

Harvey loved to tell stories about growing up in Manitoba and walking to school seven miles away. “It was cold up there by the lake. One morning it was negative 35 degrees and dad said it was too cold to walk to school. The next day it was only negative 30 and dad said it was warm enough and told us to get headed to school.” Some of his other favorite stories were about trapping beaver and muskrats in the lake. “That was good entertainment for a kid back then.”

He loved to fish and hunt in his younger years. He told of fishing in the Snake River with his buddies. “I couldn’t swim or float on water but it didn’t bother me to go out in the boat.”

In 1948 he went to work for Potlatch mill’s box plant, later working in the veneer plant and pulp mill. “Being young and adventurous, that didn’t seem to work out for me, so I quit.” Laughing, he would say, “the third time, in 1952, my mom got me back on and I stayed put.” He worked in the grading department for 17 years before transferring to O’mill as supervisor where he stayed until the mill was closed.

He returned to Lewiston where he was a supervisor in the surfacing department until going to the old Cardiff mill at Pierce to help in supervising until the mill closed. He transferred back to Lewiston to help place personnel transferred from the Cardiff and Ahsahka plants as they closed. He then transferred to the Kamiah plant and supervised there until that mill closed. “My final stop, I returned to the surfacing department and stayed there until retiring after 35 years.”

After retirement he found he “had too much time on my hands” and started Heaven’s Best carpet cleaning service. He cleaned carpets until his wife retired and then decided to “call it quits.”

Harvey leaves behind his wife Beverly, sons Jim (Kay) and Dale (Bev) and daughter Charlene, all of Lewiston; four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and a sister Thelma McDarment. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister Marion Musgrave and grandson Joshua.

At his request, no service is planned.

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