A Time of Grateful Remembering: The life of Margaret Ray Thompson

A Time of Grateful Remembering: The life of Margaret Ray Thompson

Based on comments by the Rev. Chuck Hindman during Margaret’s memorial service held June 24, 2023, at First Congregational Church in Walla Walla, Wash.

Margaret Ray Thompson was born in Lacona, Iowa, t0 Ray and Luella Smith on March 24, 1929. She was the youngest of three sisters. Helen was 19 years older and Grace five years older, so she got special attention as the “baby of the family.”

She grew up in nearby Chariton, Iowa, where Margaret did well in school, singing in the choir, playing trumpet in the band, joining the drama club, participating in National Honor Society, getting elected as student council vice president, and being selected as 1946 Chariton High School Homecoming Queen. She was bright, talented, outgoing, and well-liked and had many friends.

Margaret's father was a successful salesman for Hormel Meats. He traveled all around Iowa. He was a natural-born salesperson, so he did very well, making his family better off than so many during the Great Depression. That was until rheumatoid arthritis got so bad that he could no longer travel. Margaret was in eighth grade. He was able to get a job doing bookkeeping for the city, but it was not nearly as lucrative as before.

Social Security had come into being by then, but it did not include disability benefits, so times were lean. They took in boarders in their home in order to make ends meet. In spite of that, if hoboes knocked at their door by the railroad tracks asking for some work to earn lunch, Margaret’s mother, Luella, always obliged and treated them like guests.

When Margaret graduated from high school in 1947, she moved to Vancouver, Washington, to live with her oldest sister, Helen. Margaret's empty bedroom meant her folks could take in another boarder. She also moved to attend Clark (junior) College in Vancouver. So, Margaret set out on a new chapter in her life. During her freshman year at Clark, she met a guy named Roy Thompson.

Roy graduated in 1944 from Vancouver High School (now Fort Vancouver High School) when he was 17-years-old  because he was a good student and skipped seventh grade.

After high school he played football University of Washington as starting center and linebacker for the Huskies.

As one of many patriotic young men of his time, Roy served in the military during World War II. When he turned 18 he dropped out of the university and enlisted in the Army to serve as a paratrooper. He did not see action because the war ended. So, he ended up playing football to entertain the troops. Then, he returned to Clark as a student. After Clark he transferred to the University of Portland where he earned his bachelor’s degree and played football.

Roy's story was even tougher than Margaret 's since he had lost his mother when he was 15-years-old. Soon after his father left Roy and Roy’s brother, two years older, at home in Vancouver on their own while he worked elsewhere.

Thankfully, the Thompson brothers got help from other family members in town so Roy could finish high school. In addition, Roy worked in a local papermill.

During his Army service overseas, Roy sent money home to his father assuming it would be saved for him. But, Roy never saw any of it. He’d hope to have savings when he and Margaret married. Instead, they were broke.

Margaret and Roy married June 1, 1948. Helen lent them $25 so they could go on a one-night honeymoon to Seaside, Oregon, and they went from there.

Football, frugality, and the GI Bill got them through Roy's college years so he could begin a career in teaching and coaching football. They started out in a 740 square foot house that was anything but fancy, but it was always clean and cared for.

You might think at times that a football coach's wife was a celebrity in the towns in which they served, but that was not the whole story.

In his first assignment in Astoria, they hung a dummy in effigy with his name on it because they lost a lot of games early on while he was turning the program around.

 https://taxioffduty.blogspot.com/2021/09/astoria-grid-coach-roy-thompson-takes.html

In Roseburg, he had to fire three local boys who were assistants and started out 0 and 9 for the first season. They turned it around, but only after some really tough years of being targets of ridicule and unhappiness.

The same cycle happened when they moved to Walla Walla and he coached for Whitman College until they cut funding so much that it was time to leave.

Through thick and thin, Margaret’s charm, relation-building skills, and giving attitude remained consistent. Her strawberry-rhubarb pie and hospitality didn’t hurt either. And, of course, she was there for Roy when no one else was.

In 1952 Margaret and Roy were blessed with son Mark. Then Kristin (Kris) became part of the family 12 years later, in 1964. Margaret was, as you might surmise, a loving and capable mom.

After years of not being able to have a second child, you can imagine heir joy when they were able to go to Portland and come back with Kris. It was like Margaret was twice a new mom. I’m pretty sure Mark wasn’t nearly as cuddly as Kris back then.

Having grown up with a father who became disabled in middle age, tragedy struck again when Roy was only 50 years old. Colon cancer left him really limited and needing Margaret's regular care. Then, prostate cancer went out of control before he died at age 66.

She took to heart all the help she received and became a dedicated volunteer in many community groups! She helped to create the first Walla Walla Meals on Wheels program, and worked weekly for more than 40 years supporting those who needed meals delivered to them enabling them to stay in their homes for as long as possible,

She was a docent at Walla Walla’s Carnegie Art Center until it closed, making many new and lasting friendships. She was active in PEO, the garden club, and several bridge groups.

Margaret often golfed with a friend and she enjoyed traveling with friends.

She loved being a grandmother and loved all of her grandchildren equally and attended most of their sporting, and music events! Later, she was a proud great-grandmother of five.

Dolores Peery, who was her neighbor across the street then across the hall at Wheatland Village in Walla Walla for 30 years, describes Margaret as always kind and positive. She was like that with everyone.

You might say that Margaret had distinct chapters in her life.

=There were the growing up years that got more challenging when her father became disabled.

=Then there were the married years of being the coach’s wife with all the unwritten expectations and needs before Roy became ill. As caregiver for him, she was assisted by hospice, friends, Mark and Kris.

=Then the years she worked as a preschool teacher to help fund Kris' education until she retired and remained a cherished friend to so many.

=Finally, there were the years, starting in 1993 when Roy died. She was almost 64-years old then. This final chapter of 30 years was filled with recreating herself as a valued family and community member, through volunteering, and wonderful friendships. Her kindness and smile ministered to many, especially where she lived in her last two years, on the second floor of Odd Fellows Home in Walla Walla. She passed away at age 94 on May 28, 2023, with her family at her side. 

In conclusion, the Biblical story of Ezekiel and the dry bones fits Margaret.

Ezekiel lived in a time when his people had been taken into exile as slaves to the Babylonians. There were a defeated and seemingly powerless people, but Ezekiel saw how God could bring life to the dry bones of his people.

It was like that for Margaret and so many others of her generation who had a gift for bringing life to dry bones, bringing resiliency to her own life and the lives of others. Through good times and bad, she brought life and continued to love.

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Mountain View Cemetery, Walla Walla, Wash.