Gerald E. Thorson

July 30, 1925 - June 4, 2016

Memorial service for Gerald E. Thorson, age 90, will be held Thursday at 10:30AM at First Lutheran Church in Blair. Visitation will be held Wednesday beginning at 2:00PM with family receiving friends from 6:00 to 8:00PM at the funeral home. Mr. Thorson died June 4, 2016 at Lakeside Hospital in Omaha. Gerald E. Thorson was born July 30, 1925, in Vermillion, South Dakota. The son of Ernest G. Thorson and Elsie (Nelson) Thorson, he lived in Sioux City, Iowa most of his youth and was drafted into the U.S. Army, in 1943. He married R. Carol Thorson on March 30, 1947. They met on a blind date and were married for almost 62 years. Jerry worked for Western Union Telegraph Company 38 years. He stared out delivering telegrams on his bike and retired as Technical Director of the Central Telephone Bureau in Reno, Nevada. After retirement, he started his own handy-man business called Jerry’s Fix-It. His stated goal was to “get out of wearing a suit and tie everyday”. Later, Jerry and Carol moved to California where Jerry worked as a consultant. He and Carol also owned independent businesses. They enjoyed their new friends and the climate of California. Jerry was able to fix almost any appliance or car; and, he built his own homes in Nevada and California. In 1992, they moved to Blair to be closer to their daughters. He is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law Julie and Charlie Rohlfing, Susan and Ken Holstein, all of Blair, Nebraska; son Michael E. Thorson of Golconda, Nevada; grandchildren Mark and Shannon Rohlfing, Brian Holstein and Krista Holstein and her husband Patrick Peterson; great-granddaughters Abigail and Kate Rohlfing; sister Janice Rens of Belmont, Michigan; brother-in-law Bernard Brennan of Florida; sisters-in-law Donna Hoard, and Leonard and Dorothy Hare of Oregon; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Carol, brothers Vernon, Russell, and Neil Thorson, and sisters Florence Brennan and Eunice McAllister. Memorials are suggested for First Lutheran Church, in Blair, or the National Audubon Society.