Fort Lauderdale beer baron, 80

First he was the son and then he was the father in the father-and-son business that he grew into the largest beer distributorship in the state.

Bill Thies, who made Fort Lauderdale his home for 70 years, died Tuesday. He was 80.

By the time Thies retired from the beer business and sold his interest in Wm. Thies & Sons in 2001, it had distributed 31 million gallons of Miller beer in a single year, making it the biggest beer wholesaler in the state.

“He was really kind of intrinsic in the Fort Lauderdale fabric,” said Thies’ youngest son, Tom.

“As Fort Lauderdale grew up, the small family business grew into a large family business and touched every part of Broward County, Palm Beach County and beyond.”

Thies was born in Washington D.C. but considered Fort Lauderdale, where he moved in 1948, home. He attended Saint Anthony Catholic School and St. Thomas Aquinas High School when it was known as Central Catholic High

He remembered when the Mai Kai opened up “out in the sticks,” and when Oakland Park Boulevard wasn’t yet a boulevard and didn’t yet have a bridge.

He recalled riding his bicycle on Holy Cross Hospital’s construction site.

“He loved his hometown,” said Thies’ oldest son, Bill. “He just always thought this was paradise.”

Magnanimous, vibrant and larger than life, Thies was known to dress up as Santa Claus for Kids in Distress in Wilton Manors, his devotion to his high school alma mater and his generosity to charities.

Tributes to Thies poured onto St. Thomas Aquinas’ alumni page on Facebook.

“He was a giant amongst mere men. A patriarch in the truest sense,” said one post.

“Great guy and good friend of law enforcement. Bill used to support us at BSO criminal investigations picnics and Christmas parties! He will be missed by many!” said another.

After attending the University of Notre Dame for two years, Thies joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Heidelberg Germany. He married, fathered seven children and in 1964 at age 26 took over the family business.

“He lived life large,” Bill Thies Jr. said. “He could work hard and play hard but if he put his mind to it he could be all business too.”

Thies is survived by daughters Krista Marx, of West Palm Beach, Heidi O’Connor and Katrina Thies, both of Honolulu, HI, and sons Bill, Jim, and Tom, 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A funeral Mass is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Jan. 30 at St. John the Baptist Churchm 4595 Bayview Drive, Fort Lauderdale.