Arluvene Thompson 1927-2015
Arluvene Bernice Grossman Thompson, 88, Holton, died Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, at a Topeka hospital.
She was born Jan. 21, 1927, in Cullison, the daughter of Forrest Ross and Orra Margaret Covey Grossman. She lived in Richmond, Va., for 15 years before returning to Kansas. She moved to Holton in 1974. She was a graduate of Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., and Emporia State University.
Mrs. Thompson was an occupational therapist in St. Louis, Mo., and Richmond, Va., and a school librarian at Concordia and Holton high schools.
She was a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society, Jackson County Retired Teachers Association, Kansas Association of School Librarians, a life member of the National Education Association and a past member of the Beck-Bookman Board of Trustees. She volunteered for the Nature Conservancy and Beck-Bookman Library, and she was active in St. Dominic Catholic Church as a teacher, cantor, liturgist and organist.
She married James Disney Thompson Sr. on April 2, 1951, in St. Louis, Mo. He and a daughter, Barbara Marie Thompson, died July 10, 1965. She was also preceded in death by two sisters, Barbara Louise Grossman Crouse and Rachel Irene Grossman McCormick.
Survivors include six sons, the Rev. James Disney Thompson, OP, Tucson, Ariz., John Ross Thompson and wife Marsha, Ozawkie, Charles Crosby Thompson, Holton, Mark Irwin Thompson, Snohomish, Wash., Brian McGurk Thompson, Holton, and Alan McFadden Thompson; a daughter, Marguerite Ann Thompson and husband Donald Parmentier, Menomonee Falls, Wisc.; six grandchildren; four nieces; and two nephews.
Mrs. Thompson will lie in state at Chapel Oaks Funeral Home on Thursday, with a closed casket visitation beginning at 6 p.m. and a rosary and vigil at 7 p.m. Funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Holton. Burial will follow in Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Beck-Bookman Library or the public library of the donor’s choice, sent in care of Chapel Oaks Funeral Home, P.O. Box 1034, Holton, KS 66436.
