James L. "Jimmy" Thiels, Sr.A Mass of Christian Burial celebrating the life of James L. "Jimmy" Thiels, Sr. will be at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, January 25, 2017, at St. Rita Catholic Church with Father Craig Scott presiding, assisted by Father Dan Cook. Interment will be in St. Peter's Cemetery, Elmer, Louisiana, under the direction of John Kramer & Son.Visitation will be held from 4:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. on Tuesday, January 24, 2017, and resume from 8:30 A.M. until 9:30 A.M. on Wednesday, January 25, 2017, at the funeral home. Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at 6:30 P.M. on Tuesday, January 24, 2017, in the Kramer Chapel. James L. "Jimmy" Thiels, Sr., age 89, of Boyce, passed peacefully from this life to the next at Grace Home, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, on January 23, 2017, four days before his 90th birthday. He was born on January 27, 1927, to Jeff and Theresa Verzwyvelt Thiels. He was the youngest son in a family of ten children and referred to himself as "the last button on the coat." Jimmy was a parishioner of St. Margaret's Catholic Church of Boyce, Louisiana, and a proud veteran of the U.S. Navy. He drove a parochial school bus for 25 years, raised cotton and soybeans on the bayou, and grew a large garden to feed his eleven children. Jimmy grew up in the depression years and learned the value of hard work and making do with what you had on hand. He loved being outside, farming, raising goats, and working on his old tractors. Every spring, he would get new life as he ordered seed and planted his garden.Jimmy loved his wife of 56 years, Beverly "Betty" Mathews Thiels, who died in 2005. Left to cherish his memory are his eleven children: James L. "Jimbo" Thiels, Jr. (Sandy), Jo Anne Thiels, Evelyn Holt (Chris), Marilyn Thiels, Connie Pederson (Jeff), Jeff Thiels (Sheri), Cindy Thiels, Randy Thiels (Carolyn), Nancy Smith (Frankie), Bridget Simmons (Don), and Monica Adams (Chris); thirty-one grandchildren and twenty-nine great-grandchildren.Honored to serve as pallbearers are his grandsons: Scotty Thiels, Eric Thiels, Jason Holt, Adam Holt, Zach Mertens, Chase Andries, D. Royce Simmons and Nicholas Adams. Honorary pallbearers are: Jamie Thiels, Randall Thiels, Aaron Allen, Anthony Allen, T.J. Adams, and Stephen Pederson.The family requests that memorials be made to St. Mary's Training Center, 6715 La. Hwy. 1, Boyce, LA 71409 and the Manna House, 2655 Lee Street, Alexandria, LA 71301.The family would like to say a special thank you to his daughter, Jo Anne, who lovingly cared for him during the last years of his life.To extend online notes of condolence to the Thiels Family, please visit www.KramerFunerals.com.