Naomi Fay Thiel

Former Hastings resident Naomi Fay Thiel, 88, passed away on Monday, May 29, 2023, at Brookefield Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation in St. Paul.

Funeral services were held on Friday, June 2nd, at First St.

Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hastings. Pastor Joel Remmers officiated.

Burial was at the Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Hastings.

Memorials may be given to the family at a later date.

Naomi was born on January 12, 1935, in Bladen, to George and Elvina (Kyle) Engelhardt. She graduated from Hastings High School in 1952. Naomi married Jacob Thiel on April 5, 1953 at First Presbyterian Church in Hastings. He preceded her in death on November 30, 2003.

Naomi worked at the Telephone Company, Shwesers, Woolworth’s, Adams County Senior Services as a dispatcher, as a paraprofessional, taught golf at Hastings High School, worked in the delivery service, and owned and operated Jake’s Drive In Clay Center for nine years.

She retired in 1988. She was a member of First St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Naomi was a great golfer and had two holes-in-one; she was a member at Southern Hills. She bowled in a bowling league, loved to ride bicycles with Jacob, was with Sweet Adelines for many years, and sang in a quartet and church choir.

Naomi is survived by her children and spouses, John and Roxanne Thiel, Mary and Jim Shipley, Kathy Watts, and Mark Thiel; grandchildren, Heather, Eric, Nathan, Jessica, Brady, Jamie, Travis, Jake, Justin, and Jeremy; twenty-two great-grandchildren; her brother, George Engelhardt, Jr.; many nieces and nephews; and countless friends.

The Phonograph-Herald | June 7, 2023