Face of Campy Vern Fonk Commercials, Rob Thielke, Dies at 50

Anybody who's been in the Northwest for any length of time -- and appreciates the wackiness that only local commercials can provide -- is mourning the loss Rob Thielke of today.

Who's he? Think of another name: Vern Fonk.

Thielke was bald-pated guy with the blank stare who was in nearly all of the Vern Fonk Insurance ads that mocked their own genre and took high camp clear to the ionosphere back in the 1990s.

Fonk, a Seattle entrepreneur who founded the insurance company that catered to high-risk drivers, died in 2006 at the age of 75.

Thielke was just 50 when he died of cancer Sunday in Huntington Beach, Calif., the company confirmed Tuesday (Aug. 18).

Today might be a good day to "honk when you go by Fonk," as the old ads suggested.