Robert "Bob" Thelin

Bob Thelin passed away suddenly on March 9, 2010 at the Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center, surrounded by his loving wife and daughters.
Bob was born in Foochow, China to missionary parents on January 11, 1935. He spent his formative years in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he graduated from high school in 1952. He graduated from South Dakota State University in 1956 with a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Husbandry. After a two-year voluntary service assignment with the Presbyterian Church in Puerto Rico, he was drafted into the US Army and served as a medic in Korea. Upon his return to the US, he worked on a ranch owned by family friends in South Dakota, where he developed a love for the land and animals.
Bob connected his later missionary work to a moment during a church service in a Methodist church in Gettysburg, South Dakota, when “his heart was strangely warmed.” Soon after this experience, he applied to the United Church of Christ Mission Board and served for 37 years as an agricultural/development missionary in Africa. Initially, he worked with village farmers in rural Ghana, where he met and married his wife, Nelda Rhodes. They continued to live in Ghana for nine years, having two daughters during this time. The family also lived and worked in other parts of Africa – Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa – until his retirement in 2000. During his years of service, Bob also completed two Master’s degrees, one in Rural Sociology from Ohio State University and one in Biblical Studies from Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.
During Bob’s retirement years in La Junta, Colorado, he enjoyed exploring his life-long passions for organic gardening, the environment, photography, and horses. He was also an avid reader with a great love of learning. His commitment to love, peace, non-violence, and social justice was a driving force throughout his life, which he most recently expressed in his generous giving to multiple humanitarian and environmental organizations as well as his volunteer work in La Junta at Crossroads Marketplace and the Community Garden. Personal relationships were foremost in all that he did, and he loved keeping in touch with family and friends.
Bob is survived by his wife, Nelda; daughters Rachel (Sanjay Jivraj) and sons Nikhil and Ronak, and Ruth (Bill Daugherty); brother Mark (Virginia) and sons Carl and Eric. He was preceded in death by his parents Guy and Elizabeth Cushman Thelin and all of his aunts and uncles.
There will be a memorial service at Emmanuel Mennonite Church at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, March 12, following a private burial at Fairview Cemetery.
Peacock-Larsen Funeral Home & Arkansas Valley Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Mennonite Central Committee, 21 S. 12th St., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA, 17501-0500 or Church World Service, 28606 Phillips Street, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515.