Dennis L. Thomte
September 17, 1934 – June 6, 2024
Dennis L. Thomte died June 6, 2024, a.t the age of 89. Dennis was born Sept. 17, 1934, in Ambrose, North Dakota. He was preceded in death by his father, Vernon Thomte; his mother, Clara Bredevein Thomte; and his wife, Marian Torkelson Thomte. He is survived by daughters, Denise (Gary) Mazour and Lori (Mitch) Towne; grandchildren: Ryan (Laura) Armbrust, Erik (Dženana) Armbrust, Kaitlin (Matt) Hilgenkamp, Emma Mazour and Dain Armbrust; and great-grandchildren: Henry Armbrust, Kresten Armbrust, and Arlo Hilgenkamp.
Dennis graduated from Ambrose High School in 1952. He married Marian, his high school sweetheart, in December of 1955. In 1957, he received a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering from the University of North Dakota, where he played baseball. After serving for 2 1/2 years in the North Dakota National Guard, he entered the U.S. Army in February of 1957 and played football, basketball and baseball for Fort Polk, Louisiana.
In June of 1963, Dennis graduated from the University of North Dakota School of Law. He became a patent attorney shortly after graduation. He was admitted to the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1982. Dennis wrote approximately 4,000 patent applications in his career and was widely regarded as
being one of the best in his field.
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A private family service will be held at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska.
Memorial gifts may be directed to Children’s Nebraska Foundation, 8404 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 650,
Omaha, NE 68114-4042.
15 Comments
We were very sorry to hear of Denny’s death. Our prayers are with all of you. Sincere sympathy.
Thank you for your long friendship with my dad!
There was never any difficulty in sustaining our lifelong friendship with Dennis & Marian. Lovely people.
Dear Lori and Denise and your families. Our deepest condolences. I have many found memories of the times I have met Dennis. I will remember him with great fondness,
Kaare and family from Oslo, Norway
Thank you, Kaare. I appreciate your reaching out.
So sorry to hear that my first client is gone! Denny had a crushing grip, and fancied himself a brilliant cribbage and pitch player. My dad called him “North Dakota Koolaid”.. I’ll miss his easy smile and sense of humor.
So sorry to learn of Dennis’ passing. I so enjoyed working with and trying a case with Dennis out here in Phelps County several years ago. He later called me and said a shipment would be arriving at my home – and, lo and behold, a 25th Anniversary Callaway Golf Bag arrived that Dennis had purchased. Such a smart, professional, and enjoyable person to be around. My condolences to you and your family.
So sorry to hear of Denny’s passing. Our law office is a floor above Denny’s and I would see him regularly. He was always a pleasure to visit with. Great guy and an even better attorney. He will be missed!
He was a wonderful mentor to me and other attorneys at Pete Kiewit Sons’, Inc. in ’80’s and ’90’s. I so enjoyed working with Dennis on intellectual property transactions and disputes. It’s a privilege to be able to work with Dennis. A brilliant and confident man. I think of him from time to time sometimes when I have a tough problem to solve.
Played a lot of golf and hit a lot of golf balls with Denny at Highland/Ironwood country club. We had many laughs and he was a great guy to talk to about damn near everything. Once he sold me nine irons that he was tired of playing for $300. I gave him 200 that day, and was late pay on the other hundred. Went to get my golf clubs out one day, and 1/3 of them are missing. The bag room boy said Mr. Thomte is going to hold those as security for your last payment. He was a funny funny guy and a great lawyer. I’m going to miss him. God bless him.
I met Dennis and Marian about 12 years ago while painting their house. I was just starting undergrad at the time and had some interest in law. The two of them were very gracious in taking the time to talk through their experiences with me and give me some great advice. I stayed in touch with them and they ended up writing me a letter of recommendation for law school. I’ve been a lawyer now for about 7 years and love it. My being in this position is partly due to the kindness of Dennis and Marian in helping out the random kid painting their house. I will always be grateful for them, and I wish the best for their family.
As editor of The Daily Record I had many opportunities to interact with Dennis. He was a huge supporter of legal organizations, especially of legal professionals. He made many contributions to the legal profession. He was a warm, personable guy with lots of admirerers. He will be sorely missed. My condolences to his family.
Dennis was our neighbor for many years, a good friend. Condolences to his family
Denny and I played many $5 Nassaus as we traversed the Omaha golf scene from OCC to Ironwood to Champions. I think we broke even but of course he would dispute that as he did with most things I said.
Over thirty years ago, I worked for Dennis for well over a year during law school and he taught me the fundamentals of patent prosecution and patent litigation. Dennis was an excellent attorney. Dennis was certainly very gracious and kind to work for and had me over to this home for Thanksgiving Dinner one year. We would sometimes go over to The Drover where he would tell me stories about growing up in North Dakota, playing sports and being in the army. Dennis was an avid sportsman and particularly loved playing golf. I know his family was extremely important to him. Thank you for all you did for me Dennis. My condolences to his family.
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