Jody Ewing

Iowa Author

Earl Thelander

Missing Dad Earl: Five Years Gone

Family

This article has been cross-posted on the Iowa Cold Cases blog.

Mom and Earl

Five years ago today, my family received news no family ever expects to hear. We were fortunate, however, in that we received a gift few families get to experience when crime comes knocking on one’s door; we each got the opportunity to see and speak to our loved one — and him to us — one last time in conversation not focused on any final goodbye, but words of hope, love, and the promise of many more tomorrows.

Those tomorrows lasted just four more days before my stepfather, Earl Thelander, succumbed to burns sustained in a home explosion brought about by copper thieves. He died September 1, 2007, four months shy of his and my mother’s 25th wedding anniversary.

Mom and Earl had been out the night before working on the rural home they were preparing for a renter — the same country home where my maternal grandparents used to live — and the late-night or early-morning burglars who cut and stole propane gas lines and let the home fill with gas have yet to be apprehended or charged in the crime. My stepdad’s case remains unsolved.

Earl and Mom early on, fixing up a rental property.

Two months after his death, my mom, Hope Thelander, wrote about what she missed most about her husband and best friend; with permission, I’d posted her story to my blog. Read the blog post here.

Today I’d like to post the things I miss most about a good man I felt privileged to call “Dad Earl.”

I miss the way he always looked at my mom.

I miss how he’d always throw back his head in hearty laughter.

I miss the way he so carefully pushed up his glasses, his fingers wrapped around the outer edges, when deep in thought. 

I miss watching him carefully tend to his tomato plants and point out those he had marked for BLTs.

I miss watching his face when speaking on the phone to one of his kids.

Earl getting ready to plant tomatoes.

I miss witnessing his meticulous attention to detail whenever he went about fixing something … anything … he made sure things got done right the first time.

I miss hearing the way he’d begin a sentence with “If a guy were to . . .” because he never stopped considering new ways to approach a task at hand.

I miss seeing him sitting in his favorite chair at the kitchen table, sipping coffee from his favorite blue mug.

I miss his silent disapproval and how he’d slowly look down into his lap whenever he heard someone make a judgmental comment about another. 

I miss him at family birthday parties, at family barbecues.

I miss seeing him in his favorite pink oxford shirt that always made him look so handsome.

I miss seeing him behind the wheel in his maroon and silver Dodge pick-up truck.

I miss him. 

Earl enjoys a day at my grandparents’ farm outside Onawa, Iowa.

Teresa Heinz Kerry at Thelander Home – 12-21-03

Teresa Heinz Kerry at the Thelander home in Onawa, Iowa


December 21, 2003

 

On Dec. 21, 2003, Sen. John Kerry’s County Chair, Jody Ewing, and Jody’s mother, Hope Thelander, hosted a coffee for Teresa Heinz Kerry in the Thelander home. Teresa was there campaigning in behalf of her husband, Sen. John Kerry, who was seeking the 2004 Presidential nomination.

Photos by Jody Ewing and Dennis Ryan

NOTE: Click any image for larger slideshow with photo descriptions.

Bill Richardson at Thelander home – 9-13-07

Photos from Gov. Bill Richardson’s visit to my mother’s home in Onawa, IA

September 13, 2007

New Mexico Governor and Presidential candidate Bill Richardson knew he’d found an “uncommon” supporter in my stepfather, Earl Thelander (a lifelong republican), and when Earl suffered third-degree burns in an Aug. 28, 2007 explosion caused by copper thieves, Gov. Richardson made attempts to contact him at Clarkson’s Burn Unit in Omaha, NE. My stepdad, however, was kept in a medically induced coma due to pain from the severity of burns.

Though my stepfather succumbed to the burns and died Sept. 1, Gov. Richardson still wanted to know more about this man. On Sept. 13, 2007 — one week after Dad Earl’s funeral and the day following my mother’s breast cancer diagnosis — Gov. Richardson met privately with my mom and family in my mother’s home.

In that unhurried and wonderful afternoon, with no media nor any cameras present (except mine), we told a Democrat named Bill all about a Republican named Earl and, in the process, discovered the many common threads that connected this good man to another he’d never met.

Read my story about that day here.

* NOTE: Click any image for larger slideshow with photo descriptions.

All That Remains

All That Remains

This used to be my grandparents’ rural country home. Five generations once laughed and loved and celebrated countless family milestones here. After Grandpa died and Grandma moved in with my folks, my mom and stepdad purchased the house in order to keep it in the family, and were in the process of fixing it up for a renter when thieves broke in late on Aug. 28, 2007, stole copper piping, and let the home fill with gas for the inevitable explosion.

My stepfather, “Dad” Earl Thelander, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80% of his body in the explosion. Four days later, he lost his life over less than $20 worth of stolen copper.

In early 2008 I put this slideshow video together and sent it — along with a detailed letter — to the Iowa Legislature’s Judiciary Subcommittee in support of House Study Bill 660, “An Act relating to scrap metal transactions, prohibiting certain sales, imposing criminal penalties, and providing an effective date.”

The bill would have made it more difficult for thieves to sell scrap metal in Iowa without proper identification. (Some states, including Florida, were moving legislation forward to make this crime a first degree felony.) Iowa’s bill, however, failed to make the March 7 first funnel date and died. An irony, indeed, considering we were the only state to have lost an innocent victim to copper theft.

Iowa needs an “Earl’s Law.” If other states can take this crime as seriously as they do, so can Iowa. Earl deserves nothing less.

Lobbyists for or against Iowa’s failed HSB 660 (in addition to those still undecided before the bill died) are listed below. I’m keeping the list for reference.

Thank you for taking the time to view the video.

Jody

————————-

Lobbyist Declarations for HSB 660

82nd General Assembly

John Gilliland FEBRUARY 27, 2008
Against — IA. Assn. of Business and Industry (ABI)

Nicole Molt FEBRUARY 27, 2008
Against — IA. Assn. of Business and Industry (ABI)

Robert Ellis FEBRUARY 26, 2008
Against — Alter Trading Corporation

Curtis Beason FEBRUARY 25, 2008
Against — Alter Trading Corporation

Douglas Kingsbury FEBRUARY 25, 2008
For — International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Iowa State Conference

Terry Harrmann FEBRUARY 25, 2008
Undecided — Alliant Energy Corporation

James Obradovich FEBRUARY 19, 2008
Undecided — IA. Environmental Council
Undecided — IA. Recycling Assn.
Undecided — IA. Society of Solid Waste Operations (ISOSWO)

Mark Douglas FEBRUARY 19, 2008
For — IA. Utility Assn.

Ross Loder FEBRUARY 19, 2008
For — IA. Dept. of Public Safety

Susan Walter FEBRUARY 19, 2008
For — Aquila, Inc.

Brad Epperly FEBRUARY 18, 2008
For — IA. Assn. of Electric Cooperatives
Undecided — IA. Automobile Dealers Assn.
Undecided — IA. Chapter, American Institute of Architects

James West FEBRUARY 18, 2008
For — IA. Assn. of Electric Cooperatives
Undecided — IA. Automobile Dealers Assn.
Undecided — IA. Chapter, American Institute of Architects

Judy Krewson FEBRUARY 18, 2008
For — Rural IA. Independent Telephone Assn.

Keith Luchtel FEBRUARY 18, 2008
For — IA. Assn. of Electric Cooperatives
Undecided — IA. Automobile Dealers Assn.
Undecided — IA. Chapter, American Institute of Architects

Paula Dierenfeld FEBRUARY 18, 2008
For — IA. Assn. of Electric Cooperatives
Undecided — IA. Automobile Dealers Assn.
Undecided — IA. Chapter, American Institute of Architects

Scott Sundstrom FEBRUARY 18, 2008
For — IA. Assn. of Electric Cooperatives
Undecided — IA. Automobile Dealers Assn.
Undecided — IA. Chapter, American Institute of Architects

Timothy Coonan FEBRUARY 18, 2008
For — IA. Assn. of Electric Cooperatives

Tom Graves FEBRUARY 18, 2008
For — IA. Cable and Telecommunications Assn.

John Pederson FEBRUARY 17, 2008
Against — Alter Trading Corporation

Lorelei Heisinger FEBRUARY 17, 2008
Against — Alter Trading Corporation

Lynzey Tharp FEBRUARY 17, 2008
Against — Alter Trading Corporation

Matt Eide FEBRUARY 17, 2008
Against — Alter Trading Corporation

Melissa Peterson FEBRUARY 17, 2008
Against — Alter Trading Corporation

Joe Kelly FEBRUARY 16, 2008
For — IA. County Attorneys Assn.

Susan Cameron FEBRUARY 16, 2008
For — IA. County Attorneys Assn.

Craig Schoenfeld FEBRUARY 15, 2008
Undecided — Home Builders Assn. of IA.
Undecided — IA. Lumber Assn.
Undecided — IA. Network Services, Inc.

Michael Heller FEBRUARY 15, 2008
For — IA. Wholesale Beer Distributors Assn.
Undecided — Waste Management, Inc.

Paula Feltner FEBRUARY 15, 2008
For — IA. Wholesale Beer Distributors Assn.
Undecided — Waste Management, Inc.

William Wimmer FEBRUARY 15, 2008
Undecided — Home Builders Assn. of IA.
Undecided — IA. Lumber Assn.
Undecided — IA. Network Services, Inc.

Cal Hultman FEBRUARY 14, 2008
For — Miller Brewing Company

George Appleby FEBRUARY 14, 2008
Undecided — Anheuser Busch
Undecided — IPSCO Steel, Inc.

Jennifer Tyler FEBRUARY 14, 2008
Undecided — Anheuser Busch
Undecided — IPSCO Steel, Inc.

Jim Carney FEBRUARY 14, 2008
Undecided — Anheuser Busch
Undecided — IPSCO Steel, Inc.

John Gilliland FEBRUARY 14, 2008
Undecided — IA. Assn. of Business and Industry (ABI)

Michael Sadler FEBRUARY 14, 2008
For — Qwest

Michael Triplett FEBRUARY 14, 2008
For — Miller Brewing Company

Nicole Molt FEBRUARY 14, 2008
Undecided — IA. Assn. of Business and Industry (ABI)

Earl Thelander Videos

Earl Thelander Videos

News Reports and other Videos Concerning Earl Thelander Copper Theft Death

Homicide
Earl Thelander
80 YOA
Home Residence: 710 1st Street, Onawa, IA
Crime Location: 20877 Gum Ave., Onawa, IA, Monona County
Date of Crime: August 28, 2007
Date of Death: September 1, 2007

Earl Thelander of Onawa, IA, died from second- and third-degree burns sustained over 80% of his body in an August 28, 2007 explosion after copper thieves stripped propane gas lines from a country home he was renovating and let the home fill with propane gas.

With Earl’s death came the nation’s first — and only known to date — innocent fatality resulting from the growing copper theft epidemic.

The estimated value of the copper stolen and exchanged for a good man’s life: less than $20.

 


WHO-TV (Des Moines) Channel 13’s Aaron Brilbeck reports on
Earl Thelander’s unsolved death. Air date: July 29, 2010 

 
 

KTIV-TV Channel 4 reports on the
Iowa Cold Cases website – June 9, 2008
 


Remembering Earl Thelander
KTIV Channel 4 News — May 10, 2008

 

Copper Thieves Steal Lives
A home where three generations once lived, laughed and loved.
Video made by Jody Ewing and sent to the Iowa Legislature to encourage support of Iowa House Study Bill 660.

 


Family of Copper Theft Victim Offers $5,000 Reward
News Report from KTIV-TV Channel 4 — Jan. 6, 2008

 

I’ll Remember You, Dad Earl
Video made by Earl’s stepdaughter Jody Ewing six months before Earl’s death

I’ll Remember You, Dad Earl

I’ll Remember You, “Dad Earl”

Movie Notes

Novice Director: Jody

Participants: Earl, Mom, Dennis, Jennifer, Jody’s sister Kim (husband Jon & three-year-old daughter Rose), sister Lori (husband Steve, son Luke and friend Jessica), sister Kysa and friend Jim, brother-in-law Lee, Cocoa the Small but mighty dog

Location: Onawa, IA

Date: February 7, 2007

Event: Kysa’s Birthday

Family Members (In order of appearance): Luke sitting on small kitchen table; Kysa in striped sweater; Mom & Earl in corner; Steve in doorway; Lori in overalls; Lee at dining room table with Rosie (in pink boots); Cocoa on floor in doorway; Dennis coming through doorway; Jim in yellow shirt; Jon in beard by sink; Jessica in front of Luke at table; Jennifer with long blonde hair in dining room…and closing with the way I most remember Earl…smiling, pushing up his glasses, laughing, loving and enjoying his family.

The Music

I’ll Remember You
by Grayson Hugh

In big families there is no lack of celebrations.

On February 7, 2007, I had my first opportunity to “film” one of these events with my new Digimax camera (with built-in Movie Clip mode) I’d received for Christmas from my son Bill and his wife Jen. I had no idea what a priceless gift this fruit would bear: video footage of my stepfather — “Dad Earl” Thelander — taken six months before he died from third-degree burns sustained when cowardly copper thieves exchanged around $15 worth of copper wiring for a good man’s life.

This video, however, is intended to celebrate the countless happy times my family and I shared with him…the way I most remember Dad Earl.

The event is my sister Kysa’s birthday, held in my 100-year-old home despite kitchen and dining room renovations. That’s the great thing about a large, loving family, as you’ll see; they’ll gather to celebrate a birthday or special occasion, and, in the midst of all the have-more-cake-and-ice-creams and kids and dogs and laughter and love, they’ll somehow overlook the make-shift kitchen counters and yet-to-be refinished hardwood floors poking out beneath a host of mismatched area rugs.

They know what’s important.

Despite my amateurish (and first ever) attempt at film recording, I managed to put together a short video encompassing the event, and then, later, extracted sections from it for the five-minute clip shown above.

There are no “official” rolling credits, though I hope Grayson Hugh will understand my using here his lyrical and poignant “I’ll Remember You” composition. There simply was no runner-up.

Sort of like Earl.

Articles on Earl Thelander death