Gunner Gage Theilen

Gunner G. Theilen, 26, of Swaledale, Iowa, passed away unexpectedly at home on Saturday, January 24, 2026. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, January 30, 2026 at Major Erickson Funeral Home, with Mark Doebel officiating. Visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 29 at the funeral home, as well as one hour prior to the service Friday. Memorials in Gunner’s honor may be directed to his family.

Gunner Gage Theilen was born in Mason City on June 10, 1999, the youngest of three sons to Kerry and Pam (Pedelty) Theilen. He attended and graduated from the Mason City School District, and held a variety of jobs over the years, including his most recent position at Curries, where he was employed for the last six years.

Gunner’s true passion, though, was the outdoors, to which he escaped every chance he got. From the moment he was old enough to shoot, Gunner fell in love with hunting. Whether out with his father and brothers or on his own, he was most comfortable in the tall grasses and trees of his hunting grounds, shotgun in his arms and his two loyal dogs Finn and Nova by his side. Gunner would hunt for just about anything that moved, from deer and pheasant down to duck and squirrel. He was a determined and thorough huntsman too, having no problem trekking through difficult terrain or frustrating underbrush to make sure he covered all sections of a property. His saying, “It looks birdie,” became dreaded among his hunting companions—if it looked birdie, Gunner was going to check it out, no matter how exhausting the journey to get there may be.

Gunner was deeply loyal to his family and loved spending time with them. He enjoyed riding all sorts of bikes with his brother Corey—whether on a dirtbike, Harley, Kawasaki or Honda, the two would travel across Iowa, wherever the roads would lead them. In quieter moments when travelling outdoors was out of the question, Chris and Corey would sit down with their brother to play whatever PC game struck their interest that day, with Minecraft and Rocket League always being good fallback options otherwise.

Gunner, although a calm and soft-spoken individual, also took the greatest joy in the louder and more chaotic moments in his country life. He loved his guns, his hunting, his fireworks, and tearing across the countryside on the back of a motorcycle. Gunner’s legacy should inspire us all to savor the simpler joys in life.

He is survived by his father and father’s girlfriend, Kerry Theilen and Hiedi Elings; mother and mother's boyfriend, Pam Theilen and Todd Hepperly; his brothers, Chris (Chelsey) and Corey Theilen; cousin, Blade Tolzman; nephew, Alaric “Booger”; Hiedi’s children, Joseph (Taylor) and Breanna Elings, and Breanna’s daughters Ryleigh and Audrey; and his faithful companion, Nova.

Gunner is reunited with his partner in crime, Finnley, who passed away earlier this January.