Thomas K. Minnich, 88, of Spring Valley, Minn., died Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013, at the Ostrander Care and Rehab.

Tom was born June 26, 1925, in Coon Rapids, Iowa, the son of Guy and Edna (Ridgeway) Minnich. The family moved to Minnesota when he was a young boy. He served with the Navy in the Pacific Theatre on the USS Bullard, a destroyer, during World War II.

He married Inez Manning Oct. 7, 1951, in the Baptist church in Spring Valley. The couple made their home in Grand Meadow and moved to Spring Valley in 1960. He started Tom’s Transfer a trucking business in Spring Valley around 1960, which the couple operated until the early 1980s. Following that he worked for a number of area businesses. Prior to starting his own business he had been an employee of Witte Trucking. Inez died May 21, 2009. He had spent time recently rehabbing at Ostrander Care and Rehab.

Tom was a member of the Spring Valley American Legion and VFW, the Spring Valley Sportsman’s Club and the area coon hunter’s organization. He was an avid fisherman and hunter and loved raising and training dogs.

He is survived by one daughter, Christine (Mark) Sass, of Chanhassen, Minn., one son, Steven, of Spring Valley; four grandchildren, Toni (Chad) Krippner and Brent and Nicholas (Emily) Sass and Melissa (Mario) Latorre; five great-grandchildren, Cody, Jessica, Danielle and Kaci Krippner and Charlotte Sass; two sisters, Kate Trembley and Jolle Davis; and four brothers, LeRoy (Marie), Max (Marlys), Doug (Kaye) and Harley (Helen) Minnich. He was preceded in death by his wife, four sisters and two brothers.

The funeral will be 11 a.m., Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, at the First Baptist Church in Spring Valley with Pastor Joe Haynes officiating. He will be cremated following the funeral service and burial of his ashes will be in the Spring Valley Cemetery at a later date. Friends may call at the Thauwald Funeral Home in Spring Valley 5-8 p.m. Thursday and at the church on Friday an hour before the service.