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Jay Richards Thompson died Wednesday, March 12, 2008, in Jacksboro.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 2 p.m. at Thompson Elementary in Mesquite, Texas. Inurnment will be Friday, April 4, 2008 at 3 p.m. at DFW National Cemetery.
He was born April 25, 1923, in Clayton. His father, William Levi Thompson, was a farmer and dealer in Watkins Products; his mother, Tex Emma Richards, was a homemaker.
Jay attended schools in Clayton, Gary and Terrell. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps in July 1941, did recruit training and sea school in San Diego, CA, transferred to Marine Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii, and then to Marine Detachment USS San Francisco on December 4, 1941, just prior to the sneak attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
He served aboard the USS San Francisco for 2 1/2 years and earned 11 battle stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon and other decorations.
Jay was able to attend the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor with his wife, Helen, and the 60th and 65th anniversaries with his daughters. He was a member of PHSA, DAV, the USS San Francisco Association, ATPE, TEPSA and several other organizations. The Richard Bard Chapter of the DAR also honored him by awarding him its Medal of Honor, its highest award.
Medically discharged in January 1945, Jay met his future wife, Helen Ritchie, while he was a patient and she was a nurse at the VA Hospital in McKinney. They married on June 2, 1951, and were married almost 51 years at the time of her death in 2002.
After earning his B.S. (on the GI Bill) and M.A. degrees at North Texas State University in Denton, Jay began his teaching career in Nocona, then at Denton Junior High and then attended Episcopal Seminary in Austin. He returned to education in 1960 in Mesquite until his retirement in 1985. The last 19 years he was principal of C.A. Tosch Elementary. One year after retirement, the MISD School Board honored him by voting to name a future school for him. The Jay R. Thompson Elementary at 2525 Helen Lane, opened in 1995.
Jay and Helen enjoyed many happy times camping with friends and playing dominoes and cards with the grandkids.
In 2004 Jay was proud to take his daughters and grandkids to Washington, D.C., to see the newly completed World War II Memorial. Jay was a faithful member of St. Thomas Anglican Church in Jacksboro.
He is survived by their three children, Jean and husband, Jerry Henderson, of Jacksboro, Texas, John of Las Vegas, Nevada., and Paula and husband, Roger Koehler, of Spring, Texas; five grandchildren, Ben of Waco, Hannah of Lubbock, and Pete, Emily and Michael of Spring, Texas; four nieces, Kathy Rockenfeller of Amarillo, Susan Diggs of McAllen, Margaret Phoebe Haney of East Aurora, New York., and Terry Stewart of California; two nephews, Jay Clem of Santa Rosa, California, and Tommy Thompson of Bakersfield, California; and his sister-in-law, Ethel Zybczynski of Hamburg, New York.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to your favorite charity or to Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library, 626 West College St., Jacksboro, Texas 76458; or to Concerned Citizens, 400 East Pine St., Jacksboro, Texas 76458.
