Luke J. Thaman

Longtime local businessman, Luke J. Thaman, age 83, of Bryan, Ohio, died at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, at Fountain Park Inn and Villas in Bryan, Ohio, where he was a resident. Mr. Thaman was active throughout the community in many charitable endeavors as well as in his business ventures. Luke J. Thaman was born on January 20, 1924, in Fort Loramie, Ohio, the son of Henry and Cecelia (Brandewie) Thaman. He graduated from Sidney High School and joined the United States Army and was assigned to the Army Air Corps, where he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He flew numerous missions during World War II with the 647th Bomb Squadron while serving in the European Theater and was awarded four Bronze Stars and the Air Medal with nine Oak Leaf Clusters for his service. After his service in the military, Mr. Thaman graduated from Purdue University in 1949 with a degree in Agricultural Economics. He married Mary Smith on November 3, 1951, in Decatur, Indiana, and she survives. Luke and Mary moved to Bryan, Ohio, in 1954 and leased the Bryan elevator and then built the Thaman and Fox Elevator with Harmon Fox, of which Luke was the managing partner. In 1964 Luke joined Williams County Broadcasting and Bryan’s first radio station as its general manager. He founded the annual Blizzard Auction that originated during the blizzard of 1978, and it has raised in excess of $500,000.00 for local charities and service groups. In 1979, he was instrumental in pursuing a new government program that made the station the first solar-powered radio station in the country. He spent the last several years working for the Bryan Times in specialty ad sales. Luke was an active member of St. Patrick Catholic Church and a member of the Knights of Columbus and Bryan Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #2489. He served as a two-term member of the Bryan School Board and the Four County Joint Vocational School Board of Education and served as president of both bodies during his terms. He is a member and past president of the Bryan Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow recipient. He served as a board member, longtime volunteer and past President of the Bryan United Way and as a volunteer with the Williams County United Way, a member of the Junior Achievement Board, and chair of the Bryan Day in the Park Celebration and raised thousands of dollars for the annual fireworks display. He was also a charter member of both the Williams County Fair Foundation and the 4-H Endowment Committee. He was the recipient of the Bryan Area Foundation Good Citizen Award in 1991, which he shared with his wife, Mary, and was the first inductee into the Williams County Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2000 and received the Goodyear Award in support of soil and water conservation locally in 2000 and in 2001 received the statewide individual Recycle Award. He also received Ohio’s Outstanding Older Worker Award in 2001. In addition to his wife, Mary, Mr. Thaman is survived by his children, Mary Ann Thaman, of Naperville, Illinois, Thomas (Kelly) Thaman, of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Mary Beth Thaman, of Kettering, Ohio, six grandchildren, Alex, Eric and Chloe Thaman and Gabriel, Noah and Hannah Thaman, one great granddaughter, Maya Thaman, one sister, Sylvia (Robert) Lehmkuhl, of Anna, Ohio, and two brothers, Jim (Barbara) Thaman, of Anchorage, Alaska, and Tom (Carol) Thaman, of Joplin, Missouri. He was preceded in death by one son, Christopher Thaman, and his twin sister, Germaine Poeppelman. Services for Luke J. Thaman will be on Monday, December 17, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in St. Patrick Catholic Church with Father Charles Ritter officiating. The family will receive visitors in the church prior to the service from 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. Interment will follow in Shiffler Cemetery near Bryan, Ohio, with grave side military rites conducted by Bryan Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #2489. Memorials in the name of Luke J. Thaman may be given to the Bryan Area Foundation - Luke Thaman Fund, St. Patrick Catholic Church Endowment Fund or Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers, - Home Health and Hospice Care.