EUGENE T. THILMAN

Aug. 23, 2010
SOUTH BEND - Eugene "Gene" Thomas Thilman died August 23rd, 2010, on his 88th birthday in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Eugene was born to Zygmunt and Rose Thilman in 1922 in South Bend, Indiana.

After graduating from Central High School, he served during WW II as an Army Air Corps reconnaissance pilot on the Italian and North African fronts. He returned from the war and attended Notre Dame University on the GI Bill, earning a bachelor's degree in business.

Gene married Lois Thilman and raised four children in South Bend while working at Bendix Aerospace in Mishawaka. The family later moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Gene continued to work for Bendix and later for the University of Michigan until retirement. Upon retirement, Gene moved to Florida where he lived for 22 years.

Gene was preceded in death by his first wife, Lois, his second wife, Joanne, his son, Jeffrey, and his two sisters, Germaine (Dendler) and Florence (McGriff).

He is survived by his sister, Sylvia Thilman, his three daughters, Judith Thilman, Janet (Lee) Cobb and Jennifer Thilman, as well as five grandchildren and his nephew, Thomas McGriff.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 23rd, in St. Anthony's de Padua Catholic Church, Ironwood and Jefferson Blvd., in South Bend. Ashes will be interred at the family plot in Highland Cemetery, South Bend. Donations may be made in Gene's honor to Corvilla Homes for Retarded Adults, which he helped to found. For donation details, go to www.corvilla.org.

Published by South Bend Tribune on Oct. 17, 2010.

03/05/2023 EJS