Thadius W. Nitschke

Thadius William Nitschke, age 50, of Ottertail, passed away Tuesday, March 14, 2023 after a short battle with cancer. 

Thadius was born on January 25, 1973, in Ashley, North Dakota, to Janice Bechtold Werner and Frank P. Nitschke. He was raised in Perham, Minnesota and educated at St. Paul’s Lutheran School, through grade 8, and graduated with the Class of 1991 from PHS.

Thadius had a passion for the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. He enjoyed fishing from a boat, shoreline, fish house, or even sitting on a bucket. Farming was also one of his great loves and he preferred being on a tractor to almost anything else. Thadius spent some of his early years farming in the Perham area but life took him to Southern Minnesota, where he worked in security at Jackpot Junction and met his ex-wife, Victoria Kahn Nitschke.

Thadius and Victoria moved to Wyoming where he was blessed with the birth of his three children, Tyler William, Cody Peter, and Ashley Ann. They spent their time hunting and with family. When Thadius’s marriage ended, he and his children moved to Lisbon, North Dakota, where he spent several years farming. It was hard to imagine anything or anyone pulling him from the seat of a tractor, but Rhonda did. 

Thadius and Rhonda went to PHS together and had been lifelong friends. God brought them together and showed them an undeniable love for one another. They were planning to be married in 2023.

Thadius is survived by his fi ancé, Rhonda Kading, and their children, Blake, Tyler, Cody, Ryan, and Ashley. He is also survived by his parents, Frank and Elaine Nitschke of New Mexico, Janice and Don Werner of North Dakota, and siblings Kathleen and Matthew Anderson of Wyoming, Levi and Alecia Nitschke of Wyoming, Lisa and Brian Alberts of Minnesota, Maija and McCoy Pyle of Wyoming, Chad Werner of Minnesota, Heather and Stacy Smith of Minnesota, and Cole Werner of Oregon, as well as many nieces, nephews, great-nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and his brothers by choice, Eric Meyer, Steve Greenwood, and Jeff Wiebe.

Thadius was preceded in death by his grandparents, Edgar and Viola Nitschke, Reinhard and Ida Bechtold, his uncle, Charles Nitschke, his brother, Michael Smith, his cousin, Stephanie Bechtold, and his great-nephew, Joshua LaBarr.

Funeral services will be held at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Perham, Minnesota, on March 25, 2023, at 2 PM, with internment in the spring at St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Perham, Minnesota.