Opal Thompson

Opal Marie (Loomis) Thompson was born in Jewell County, Kansas, to Charlie Loomis and Nellie Bly (Dye) Loomis on January 26, 1930, and passed away at Republic County Hospital in Belleville, Kansas, on March 9, 2020, with family at her bedside.  She was the youngest of ten children.  All of her siblings have preceded her in death, including brothers, Ora, Donald, and Jack, and sisters Ethel, May, Lucille, Alice, Pearl, and Esther.

Opal attended school in Otego, Kansas and Concordia, Kansas, where she graduated from high school in 1948. She then worked as a soda clerk and cashier at a Concordia grocery.  While working there, she met a tall, blond, blue-eyed young farmer.  She made him double thick shakes when he would come in the store, and those shakes, with her gorgeous face and figure, caught his attention. She married Floyd Thompson on her 20th birthday, January 26, 1950.

Opal worked as a housewife and mom, raising four children: Dixie Marie (10-09-1951), Linda Jayne (9-22-1954), Tom Scot (9-10-1956), and Bret Lynn (10-5-1964). Later she ran Hilltop Kennels, with several breeds of dogs, which she sold locally, country wide, and internationally.

She worked as a cashier in the Phillips Shop and Bon Marche. She was a favorite clerk of many, who would ask for her when they came in the store.

After she retired, she enjoyed her time with her husband, Floyd, her kids and grandkids. She loved doing crafts, quilting, sewing, photography, and playing games. She had a house dog named Peggy, that was her “baby” and she spoiled her rotten. She was very supportive of any activities her family was involved in. She kept scrapbooks of newspaper clippings from achievements.  She was generous to a fault, always slipping a dollar or two in our purse or pocket when she could.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her spouse, all 9 of her siblings, and a granddaughter, Teresa.  Surviving are children, Dixie and her husband Dennis Barnes of Clyde, Linda Lambert of Fairbury, and sons, Tom and his wife Cindy Thompson of Norway, and Bret Thompson of Concordia, as well as eight grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.

Memorial Services for Opal will be held at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Norway on Saturday, March 14, 2020, at 2:00 p.m., with Pastor Dennis Beckmann officiating. Committal services following the service at Valley Cemetery, rural Norway.

The family will greet friends at the Norway Community Center prior to the service from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm, where a luncheon will be served by the Ladies Aid of the Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the Opal Thompson Memorial, to be designated at a later date. Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home of Belleville assisted the Thompson family with these arrangements, www.tibbettsfischerfuneralhome.com