I, Jerald Ross Thompson, departed this life on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, bound for “whatever-comes-next”. Some people say I died of end-stage renal disease, but the truth is I was just too darn old and tired to carry on anymore.
I arrived on this earth on Nov. 9, 1943 at American Falls, ID – compliments of my natural parents Erma Peck and Grant Fackrell. I, along with my two sisters (Darla and Dorothy) were raised by Grant’s sister, Alice, and her husband, Fred Thompson. They legally adopted us and we were sealed to them in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple.
I squandered my youth in and around American Falls, graduated from high school there, then joined the U.S. Air Force in 1962. That occupation lasted me 20 years and I lived in Greece (two times), Turkey and Viet Nam, as well as Georgia, Texas, Mississippi and New Jersey. After retiring from the Air Force I worked at the rocket plant west of Brigham City for 27 years, retiring (again) in 2009.
Along the way I married Mary Patricia Fillmore, who, prior to our getting divorced, bore three children – Marina Helen, Rebecca Lin, and Jerald Raymond – the later two having died at birth without me even seeing them. Patricia and I later adopted a four-year-old son, David Seth Thompson, who we raised to adulthood. He and his wife, Tammy Bushnell, are parents of our only two grandchildren, Rhiannon and Dakota Thompson.
I married Louise E. Schroeder on April 18, 1987 in the Jordan River LDS Temple. In doing so I “inherited” five more children – Tammy, Janette, Brian, Emily and Sandi – and later became “Grandpa Jerald” to their 16 children.
My handsome mug was on display at the Gillies Funeral Home, where a celebration of my life was also held. After which I was planted in the Brigham City Cemetery.
I was sealed to both of my wives in LDS temples. Please … two is enough.
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