{"id":50385,"date":"2026-10-29T05:47:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=50385"},"modified":"2026-10-29T05:47:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:47:39","slug":"gerry-helen-fackler-thoman-83-of-effingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/50385-gerry-helen-fackler-thoman-83-of-effingham\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerry Helen (Fackler) Thoman (83) of Effingham"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Gerry Helen (Fackler) Thoman, 83, of Effingham, passed away Wednesday, October 28, 2026, in her home surrounded by family.<br \/>\nPer Gerry\u2019s wishes, there will not be any formal visitations or services. She asked to have a simple, private graveside service with burial in the church cemetery at St. Paul (Blue Point) Lutheran \u2013 Missouri Synod Church, 14026 North 500th Street, Altamont. Graveside services will be officiated by Rev. Mike Burdick with the assistance of longtime family pastor, Rev. David Speers. Arrangements are in the care of Johnson Funeral Home in Effingham.<br \/>\nThe family requests no flowers or gifts. Memorials may be made directly to the Holy Trinity Lutheran High School or Effingham County Animal Control. Online condolences may be shared at<br \/>\nwww.johnsonandsonsfh.com.<br \/>\nGerry Helen (Fackler) Thoman was born September 26, 1943, in Decatur, IL, to Oliver Ken \u201cO.K.\u201d and Helen (Gale) Fackler. She married Fredrick David \u201cFred\u201d Thoman on May 23, 1970. He preceded her in death, March 6, 2015.<br \/>\nGerry loved working and her career took her to live, for many years, in the Dallas, Texas area from growing up Illinois. She developed the love for all things Texas including her favorite Blue Bonnets and the Dallas Cowboys. She and Fred along with daughter, Audrey Ann Thoman, later moved back to Illinois from Texas when son Scott Smith took a firefighter position with the City of Decatur.<br \/>\nFamily and togetherness were very important to Gerry. She loved being close to her family and lifelong best friends Janice, Judy, Marlene, Carol, Joyce and Jeanne.<br \/>\nShe was a dedicated member of the Missouri Synod Lutheran faith. Most recently becoming a member at St. John Lutheran Church, Effingham, IL and a previous long-time member at St. Paul Blue Point Lutheran Church, Altamont, IL.<br \/>\nShe was extremely proud of her children and their families. However, she was most proud of her grandsons, John Spieth, Ellington, MO; Derek Smith, Decatur, IL; and granddaughter, Myah Stuemke (Brett), Altamont, IL.<br \/>\nHer above all absolute greatest joy was of her great-grandsons, Blake and Evan Stuemke, Altamont, IL and great-granddaughter, Tristen Spieth, Kansas City, MO.<br \/>\nShe loved attending graduations, church, school and sporting events for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She looked forward every year to Grandparent\u2019s Day. She was even a passenger in a race car driven by her grandson Derek on her 75th birthday! She was always up for an adventure. She just loved being in their lives and will be greatly missed.<br \/>\nGerry is survived by her daughters, Audrey Thoman of Effingham, IL and Denise (Rick) Szafranski of Ellington, Mo.; son, Scott (Lisa) Smith of Decatur, IL; sister-in-law, Farida Wack and family of Arroyo Grande, Ca.<br \/>\nAlong with her husband Fred, Gerry was preceded in death by her parents and siblings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gerry Helen (Fackler) Thoman, 83, of Effingham, passed away Wednesday, October 28, 2026, in her home surrounded by family. Per Gerry\u2019s wishes, there will not be any formal visitations or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":50386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gerry Helen (Fackler) Thoman (83) of Effingham - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/50385-gerry-helen-fackler-thoman-83-of-effingham\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gerry Helen (Fackler) Thoman (83) of Effingham - 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