James E. Thies, 67 of Chenoa passed away at 10:16 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012 at Heritage Health of Bloomington.

Funeral services will be 11 am, Monday, August 6, 2012 at the United Methodist Church of Chenoa with Pastor Carrie Carnes officiating. Burial will follow in Chenoa Cemetery, Chenoa.

Visitation will be from 3 to 6 pm, Sunday, August 5, 2012 at the Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Chenoa and one hour prior to services at the church on Monday. In lieu of flowers the family suggests that memorials be directed to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Jim was born February 23, 1945 in Springfield; the son of Earl and Irene (Fleener) Thies. He was preceded in death by his parents and father in-law, Jr. Saathoff.

Survivors include his wife, Connie Thies of Chenoa; his children, Justin (Jodi) Thies of Lincoln; Jeremiah (Emmy) Thies of Pekin; Tiffany (Mike) Vaughn of Creve Coeur; Kelli (Alan) Highland of Pontiac; one sister, Karen (David) Lowery of Beason; mother in-law, Ilene Saathoff of Kempton; sister in-law, Karen (Brian) McDonald of Normal; brother in-law, Tom (Julie) Saathoff of Kempton; six grandchildren, Megan (Andrew) Deilkes, Brooke Thies, Taylor Vaughn, Christopher Underwood, Kira Thies and Zoey Highland, two great grandchildren, Chance and Chloe Deilkes.

Jim graduated in 1963 as Valedictorian from New Holland – Middletown HS and received his Bachelors Degree in Agriculture Economics from the U of I, Urbana in 1967. He was a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity. His agriculture related background throughout his career ended with his retirement in March of 2010 from Hogan-Walker, Dwight, IL.

Jim's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was an inspiration to all who knew him. He was deeply loved and will be sadly missed.