Frances Virginia Thompson, a proper, quiet, polite lady, left this earth on April 7, 2014, after a short illness, but a long, good life.
Born in Coleman County on October 14, 1916, to Calvin Jones and Nancy Blanche Rude, she and her two younger sisters grew up moving from one oil patch to another because of her father’s job. She was always close to her sisters, Barbara and Billie. She graduated as valedictorian of Ira Ann high school, and in 1938, she received her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Texas Tech.
Also in 1938, she married James Allen (Jimmy) Thompson, launching a lifetime of love that would last until Jimmy’s death in 1998. At the time of their marriage, she was teaching in Ira Ann, and the rules held that teachers had to be single, so Frances and Jimmy eloped and kept the secret until the end of the semester. During their marriage, she waited prayerfully for his safe return from the China-Burma Airlift, an operation in which he flew treacherous missions over the Himalaya Mountains during World War II. When Jimmy continued to fly as a hobby, she also waited prayerfully for his return from trips. At home, she could recognize the buzz of his airplane as it entered the flight pattern of the Snyder airport. She also enjoyed many trips beside him in the cockpit as they traveled the country on family vacations and extra honeymoons.
Most of their married years, they made their home and raised their two daughters in Snyder, Texas, with brief assignments for Chevron Oil to Houston and Rangely, Colorado.
Although a teacher by training, Frances’s true calling was as a homemaker. Everywhere she lived, she created a beautiful, comfortable home for her family, with an eye for the perfect color scheme—with lots of turquoise—and the well-placed picture or knick-knack. She loved to read and instilled a love of literature in her children and grandchildren. Frances had a great memory for history, telling her daughters the stories about events such as the attack on Pearl Harbor long before they studied them in school. Very interested in others, she tended to let them do the talking, and she listened and remembered. Her recall of details lasted well into her nineties.
Frances’s teaching experiences began in Ira Ann and Fort Stockton. After World War II, she instructed a course in freshman English at Texas Tech for returning veterans. She later taught high school English in Snyder and adult education at Western Texas College.
She enjoyed women’s clubs, belonging to the Martha Ann Woman’s Club, Acacia Study Club, Association of American University Women, and others. She volunteered much of her time with the Scurry County Museum. She and Jimmy were long-time members of First Presbyterian Church in Snyder, and after she moved to San Angelo in 2001 to be close to her daughters, she read every word of the church newsletter and kept up with people as much as she could through her good friend, Ethel Head.
Later in life, especially after Jimmy was gone, her tender heart for animals expressed itself in her relationship with her dog Beau, a standard poodle, and later with Harley, a rescue mutt. During her last years, although Harley was never trainable as a house dog, they communed through the windows and glass door, and she could always read his mind.
Preceding Frances in death are her parents, sister Blanche Marie (Billie) Lauderdale, and husband Jimmy.
Frances is survived by her two daughters, Linda Dhans and Dana Glossbrenner, and by son-in-law Jim Glossbrenner and Linda’s special friend Dan Grounds, all of San Angelo; a granddaughter, Jana Harrington Hall and husband Rick of Orange Grove, Texas; a grandson, James David Noland and wife Ashley of Hoboken, New Jersey; and two great-grandsons, Benjamin Harrington and Pierce Noland. Also surviving are her sister Barbara Girvin, nephews Calvin and Bob Girvin, and Bob’s wife, Joetta, all of Colorado City. Other special family members include step-granddaughters Laurie Glossbrenner of Austin and Kim McCauley and husband Mark, and their boys, Alex and Aaron, of Colorado Springs.
Visitation will be at Robert Massie Funeral Home in San Angelo on Saturday, April 12, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.
A graveside service will be held at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Snyder on Sunday, April 13, at 4:00 PM. Arrangements are with Robert Massie Funeral Home.
Those wishing to honor Frances are asked to make a donation to the First Presbyterian Church of Snyder, Meals for the Elderly of San Angelo, or a charity of their choice.
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