Thomas Allan WETHE
- Born: 23 Aug 1926, Mitchell County, SD
- Died: 27 Jan 2004, SD at age 77
Noted events in his life were:
• Obituary: Rapid City Journal, 2004, SD. Thomas Allan Wethe
HOT SPRINGS - Thomas Allan Wethe, 77, of Hot Springs, died January 27, 2004, at Fall River Health Services.
Tom was born August 23, 1926, to Lt. Col. J.F. and Grace Wethe in Mitchell, South Dakota. He was raised and attended grade and high school in Rapid City when his family moved there pursuing his father's military career at Camp Rapid.
Tom graduated from Rapid City High School in 1944 and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He married Lavonne (Dee) Hansen in 1946 and attended and played football at South Dakota School of Mines. He held several jobs in the Rapid City area and served in the Army during the Korean War. Tom graduated from SDSM&T with a mechanical engineering degree in 1960.
Tom's career took him and his family to Minnesota, where he held several engineering and management positions with UNIVAC, Control Data, Trail-A-Sled/Scorpion Snowmobile, Homecrest, and Viking Package and Label. Tom worked on the Apollo Program while at Control Data and designed circuits that went to the moon. He made a lot of close friends in Minnesota he continued to keep in touch with, and considered them part of his family.
Tom loved water-skiing and fishing, building anything, and playing the organ. He was a member of American Legion, VFW, Elks, and the Over 55 organ club.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Lavonne, his mother, Grace, and his father, J.F. Wethe.
He is survived by a brother, J. Duane and Elaine Wethe of Whittier, CA; his daughter Ann and Joel Rickenbach of Oelrichs; grandchildren, Joel Thomas and Bonnie Rickenbach of Oelrichs, Dr. Rachel and Richard Edelen of Houston, TX, Joshua and Melinda Rickenbach of Alabaster, AL, Lt. Adam and Kathryn Rickenbach of Jacksonville, NC, and David Rickenbach of Rapid City. His great-grandchildren include Joel D., Raymond, Philip and Grace Rickenbach of Oelrichs; Seth and Max Edelen of Houston, TX; and Rachel S. Rickenbach of Alabaster, AL. A good friend who stayed with him during his long illness, Janet Erickson, survived him.
Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Osheim-Catron Funeral Home.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 2nd, at the Osheim-Catron Funeral Home, with Rev. Morris Nelson officiating.
Interment, with military honors provided by Rushmore VFW Post 1273, will be at the Pine Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Tom inspired many of his family and friends over the years to attend S.D. Tech, including four grandsons. He did not recruit verbally, but by causing those around him to emulate him, and therefore a memorial scholarship to SDSM&T is being established in Tom's name.
Rapid City Journal - (Jan/31/2004)
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