Roger Thieme

Roger Lee Thieme – innovator, visionary, philanthropist, mentor, and owner of Evergreen Implement in Othello, Washington for over 50 years – passed away peacefully in his sleep in Encinitas, California, on Nov. 6, 2022. He was 87 years old.

Roger began life on a farm in Hebron, Nebraska, with his parents Fred and Minnie (Mimi) Thieme and his older siblings Bill, Dwayne and Wilma (Willie). In 1944, when Roger was 9, the family moved to the promised land, a new farm in Kimberly, Idaho, where they raised potatoes, sugar beets, wheat and cattle. In high school there, Roger met his future wife, Joyce Petersen. They courted in Roger’s 1936 Ford stepside pickup, listening to the new ’50s hits on KLIX AM radio.

Roger grew up hearing stories of how his parents rebuilt their livelihood after losing their car repair business to the Great Depression. He never forgot those lessons. Always focused on improving himself, Roger spent summers, with his friend Spike, custom cutting wheat to raise tuition to attend the University of Idaho (Roger’s dad lent them the harvester). Roger married Joyce while in college, and graduated in 1957 with a degree in mechanical engineering and a son, Dan.

After graduation, Roger crisscrossed the country for engineering job interviews, but decided he didn’t want to spend his life at a drawing board. Roger and Joyce moved back to Kimberly to farm with Roger’s dad, and expanded their family with the additions of son Bruce and daughter Kelly. Tragically, Bruce was born with substantial health problems, and died before he was two.

In 1962, Roger left the Idaho farm to take a job with John Deere, managing a territory in Washington’s Columbia Basin. In 1966, Roger bought into the John Deere dealership in Othello, Washington, re-named it Evergreen Implement, and moved his family to a small house in Othello at the corner of Seventh and Hamlet. Othello was a dust bowl in those days, but Roger and Joyce persevered.

And Roger grew the business. What was a small location in Othello with five employees became, 52 years later, a business employing 150 people at locations in Othello (the flagship store), Moses Lake, Coulee City and Pasco. Roger sold Evergreen to RDO Equipment in 2018, after carefully vetting potential purchasers and deciding that the Offutt family would carry the business forward with the right focus on customers, employees and the community.

Roger and Joyce were lifelong Lutherans who were active in the local Lutheran church. They were founding supporters of the Old Hotel, and famously hosted many a fundraising auction and charity dinner for that organization.

Roger was civically active throughout his career. He was a faithful member of Rotary. He served on the Othello School Board in the 1960s. He chaired the Columbia Basin Development League in the mid-1970s. In that role, he was instrumental in obtaining federal funding for the Second Bacon Siphon and Tunnel that allowed continued expansion of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project. His lifelong interest in education and training led him to serve for many years on the National Private Industry Council, including as its national chairman. In 2019, the Adams County Public Services Building was renamed the Roger Thieme Career Center in honor of Roger’s career-training advocacy.

Roger contributed financially to many worthy causes, including The Old Hotel, the Othello Community Museum, the Adams County Fair and Rodeo, Taggares Park, Lions Park and the Othello Food Bank. In 2017, Roger impacted lives halfway around the world by donating a cargo container of new agricultural equipment to tribal chief Dr. Kwesi Osei-Bonsu, to allow the mechanization of farming in the remote village of Assaasafofum, Ghana (a sister city of Othello). In recent years, Roger was especially committed to supporting Adams County Pet Rescue.

Roger was an active thespian, taking leading roles in local and regional theater productions in Twin Falls, Othello and Moses Lake. Notable roles included Captain von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” Professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady” and Harold Hill in “The Music Man.”

Roger also became a passionate sailor. In the early ’80s, a friend took him out on a sailboat on Lake Coeur d'Alene. Soon thereafter, Roger learned to sail and discovered a new world of cruising the San Juan and Gulf Islands.

In 2008, Roger’s beloved wife of 51 years, Joyce, passed away. Roger married Sylvia Steding of Encinitas, California, in 2011, and he split his time between Othello and Encinitas before permanently relocating to Encinitas in 2021. Roger and Sylvia’s life in California revolved around friends, theater, the symphony and their pets. Roger was blessed by this second chapter in his life, and his family is grateful for the love and companionship Sylvia shared with him. Roger continued his charitable ways in Encinitas, becoming a key supporter of the San Diego Symphony (as a member of the Beethoven Society) and Rancho Coastal Humane Society.

Roger was preceded in death by his parents Fred Thieme and Minnie Pubanz Thieme; his siblings Bill Thieme, Wilma McFarland and Dwayne Thieme; his wife Joyce and his son Bruce. Roger is survived by his wife at the time of his death, Sylvia Steding of Encinitas, California; his son and daughter-in-law Dan and Carla Thieme of Orcas Island, Washington; his daughter and son-in-law Kelly and Craig Andrews of Battle Ground, Washington; and adult grandchildren Beth Andrews of Portland, Oregon, Sydney Thieme of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Phillip Andrews of Vancouver, Washington and Meredith Thieme of San Francisco, California.

A celebration of Roger’s life will be held at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Othello, Washington, on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at 2 p.m. A reception will follow. The family asks that remembrances be directed to Adams County Pet Rescue or the Othello Food Bank.