Kraig Thoele

Kraig was born February 1, 1955 in Gaylord, MN to Marvin and Shirley Thoele, the fourth of seven children. He grew up on the family farm with his brothers and sisters. Kraig graduated from Sibley East High School in Gaylord, MN, and Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. While at Gustavus he met his wife Jane and after graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and Health they moved around the Midwest and had three really beautiful, talented, and smart babies together. After settling in Bismarck, ND to raise their family, Kraig climbed the corporate ladder and spent most of his career as an award-winning regional director of many Hardee’s restaurants. He spent the last decade before retirement taking a lighter workload due to health and bragging on his beautiful grandchildren.

Kraig was a talented athlete in football and wrestling and for much of his life enjoyed competition and friendships built through softball, hunting, and fishing. Kraig had a passion for the outdoors and as his kids grew older he enjoyed detangling fishing lines and cursing the North Dakota wind on countless trips to the lake or river. Kraig enjoyed mushroom hunting and fishing with his buddies. The day would usually end with a cold one and a cook-off of some sort. He was a phenomenal cook and loved to share (in obscene quantity) any new creation he came up with...never to be duplicated, of course, because although his cookbook collection was huge, he didn’t use any recipes. While he often traveled for business, he was sure to leave his family with enough leftovers to last the winter.

Kraig loved his family and looked for opportunities to travel back to Minnesota to visit his sisters and brothers and their growing families. Kraig’s grandkids were the absolute pride and joy of his life. He loved more than anything to visit with his grandkids and teach them all he knew about getting into mischief. For a grandchild, grandpa came to you with balloons and paper airplanes, searching in the dirt for cool bugs, learning the names of interesting fish or birds, researching whether that mushroom you found was edible or poisonous, and listening to your every word. He never stopped being a great big kid and he was the greatest.

He is preceded in death by his father, Marvin Thoele, brother, Kenneth Thoele, father-in-law, Buster Catterson, and grandson, Sullivan Thoele.

Survived by his wife of 42 years, Jane (Catterson), children Kristopher (Meghan) Thoele,  Phoenix AZ, Mandy (Alan) Abryzo, Bismarck, ND, and Zak (Hillary) Thoele, Franklinton, LA, his mother, Shirley, his sisters, Sandy (Bob) Reid, Marcia (Don) Becker, and Heidi Thoele, his brothers, Kevin (June) Thoele, and Mark (Mary) Thoele, and his many nieces and nephews, his grandchildren Ava Abryzo, Lucas Abryzo, Elias Abryzo, Michael Thoele, Theodore Thoele, Myles Thoele, and Margaret Thoele.     

As a celebration of Kraig's life, his family would like to invite friends and loved ones to 40 Steak and Seafood in Bismarck on November 24, 2019, at noon for a private remembrance.