Sept. 21, 1933 - Oct. 21, 2009

Horst Thiehsen, 76, of Lebanon, died Oct. 21, 2009.

A gathering of remembrance was held Oct. 24.

He was born in Tiegenhof in the Free State of Danzig. He and his family were evacuated by ship in the advance of Russian troops in World War II. They landed in Hamburg and were settled in a refugee camp in Assel near Stade, where he later apprenticed as a machinist repairing farm machinery and ships.

He was baptized into the Mennonite church at the age of 14. Sponsored by the Mennonite Central Committee, he built housing for Mennonite refugees in Germany. He, his parents and brother moved to one of the new apartments in Sachsenweiler around 1951.

In 1953, he was sponsored by the Mennonite Central Committee on a one-year exchange program to the U.S., including six months in Albany.

In 1955, he immigrated to Canada and worked for the Canadian National Railroad at the Jasper Park lodge as a gardener and handyman. In 1958, he immigrated to the United States and went to work as a machinist for the plywood mill in Lebanon. He retired from the mill in 1995.

He married Pauline Ellis of Lebanon at St. Johannes Catholic Church in Germany in 1963. Both worked in Germany until May 1964, when they returned to Oregon and he went back to his job at the plywood mill.

Mr. Thiehsen is survived by his wife Pauline and children Rose Marie Theissen of San Diego, and Kurt Eugene Theissen of Escondido, Calif.

His son Harold Karl Thiehsen, parents Kurt and Martha (Duwensee) Thiehsen and brother Gerd Thiehsen died before he did.

Donations may be made to SafeHaven Humane Society, Evergreen Hospice or a charity of choice and sent in care of Huston-Jost Funeral Home, 86 W. Grant St., Lebanon OR 97355.