Gary Allen Thiele, age 86, of Green Valley Arizona, died Thursday, August 15, 2024 after a three year battle with cancer. Gary was born on May 5, 1938, in Cleveland OH, son of the late Paul and Helen Thiele. He spent his youth in East Cleveland and Madison-On-The-Lake OH, enjoying swimming, boating, fishing and developed a strong interest in ham radio, communicating with every state and well over 150 countries. This led to a great interest in understanding how antennas worked, which would be the hallmark of his professional life. He graduated from Shaw High School in the City of East Cleveland in 1956.

Following high school, he enrolled at Purdue University, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1960. Following graduation, he worked for General Electric, before fulfilling his Army ROTC commitment from 1961 to 1962, serving in the US Army Signal Corps and leaving the service with an Honorable Discharge as a First Lieutenant. He then enrolled at The Ohio State University (OSU) as a graduate electrical engineering student, earning his M.Sc. in EE in 1964 and his Ph.D. in EE in 1968. He earned his Professional Engineering (PE) license shortly after graduation.

Upon completion of his doctorate, he was invited to join the EE faculty at Ohio State as an Assistant Professor, working at the Electro-Science Laboratory. In 1975, he became an Associate Professor at Ohio State. In 1976, while still at Ohio State, he worked a visiting fellow at the University of New South Wales, Australia. In 1980, he became Associate Dean/Director of Graduate Engineering and Research in the Engineering School at the University of Dayton (UD), Dayton OH. In 1985 he created and became the Director of the Electro-Optics program at the University of Dayton, still maintaining his position as Associate Dean and Director of the Graduate Engineering School. While remaining at the University of Dayton, he became a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and then a Visiting Scientist in the Target Recognition Branch in the Avionics Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB). From 1991 until 2001, he occupied the F.M. Tait Professor of Electrical Engineering chair at UD. He retired from UD in 2001 as a Professor Emeritus. He then continued to work with the Air Force Research Laboratory at WPAFB from which he had a second, and final, retirement.

Dr. Thiele co-authored the graduate level textbook Antenna Theory and Design, first published in 1980, with 2nd and 3rd editions printed in 1996 and 2012 respectively. It is widely believed to be the most popular teaching text for antennas in the world. Notable other achievements, awards and honors in his professional career included winning the "Best Paper Award" of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Antennas and Propagation Society (APS) for 1976, the paper for which he co-authored with one of his graduate students in 1975; serving as Secretary Treasurer of the IEEE APS from 1977-1979; being elected to the OSU Senate for 1979-1982; being elected as president of the IEEE APS in 1982; being elected an IEEE Fellow in 1982; being elected to IEEE Board of Directors for 1987-1988; appointed to the Army Science Board (ASB) by the Secretary of the Army effective June 1989-1993 (the ASB is a group which advises the Secretary of the Army on matters of science and technology); earning several patents; serving as an expert witness.

Gary also had a strong belief in multi-national cooperation in academic research. He sponsored working visits for 5 different professors from as many countries and served as an external examiner for graduate student candidates at 8 different foreign academic institutions. He served as a technical reviewer multiple times for over 10 different technical publishers (professional society transactions and books). Over the years he also served as the principal advisor for 15 Ph.D. and 30 Masters Degree students.

His professional life allowed for extensive foreign travel. Gary visited over 60 countries on 6 continents, and made it to 49 of 50 states. His love for travel extended to his family as well. In 1976, he took his wife and 3 young boys on a circumnavigation of the globe, lecturing at universities along the way to pay the way for his family. This trip included living for 6 months in Australia. He took his wife to numerous other foreign countries and the entire family on multi-state vacations every 2 to 3 years. Gary also made a first visit to relatives in Lithuania in 1978 while that country was still behind the Iron Curtain. This visit strengthened family ties and resulted in multiple trips by Gary and his family to Lithuania and by Lithuanian relatives to the United States. This was extremely fulfilling for Gary.

Gary was very involved in the life of his sons, taking an active part in Indian Guides, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. In fact, he went through Boy Scout Wood Badge training to hone his adult leadership skills. His 3 sons and both grandsons all earned the rank of Eagle Scout, in part due to his unflinching encouragement and belief in Scouting. Gary also visited Colorado numerous times to hike. He climbed over 1/2 of the 14,000+ foot peaks found there. His childhood love for fishing and boating led him back to Lake Erie where he spent substantial down time during the latter stages of his professional career and in his retirement. He owned two boats, the second and larger of which, the Motor Vessel Our Joy, he and his wife used to voyage beyond Lake Erie. The summer residence where he moored the Our Joy served as a focal point for numerous visits from immediate and extended family.

Gary will be deeply missed by his family, friends and colleagues. It is comforting to know he is no longer suffering from the ravages of cancer. He is survived by his wife JoAnn Lee Thiele; his sons Eric (Angela), Scott (Christy) and Brad (Debbie); grandchildren Max (Julia), Carmela, and Curtis; and his sisters Donna and Pat; and numerous nieces and nephews. Pat spent many days and hours the last few years helping to care for Gary.

Military Honors will start outside Our Lady Of the Valley Church Promptly October 5, 2024 at 9:30AM. A memorial mass will be held on October 5, 2024 at Our Lady of The Valley Catholic Church in Green Valley, Arizona at 10 AM.