A graveside service for Katherine Wade Thompson, 88, of Fairhope, will be Friday at 1 p.m. at Decatur City Cemetery with the Rev. J. Seth Olson officiating.
A longtime resident of Decatur, Ms. Thompson died Nov. 12 at Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. Born in Tallassee, Alabama, to Vertha and Raymond R. Wade, Ms. Thompson enrolled at the University of Alabama at age 16 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. While completing coursework for a masters of arts in political science, she served as graduate research assistant to Prof. V.O. Key for his famous treatise “Southern Politics.”
She married Byrd Thomas Thompson (Mobile) in 1947. Her father was an active organizer in the labor movement while an employee at the Alabama Power Company, and was later named commissioner of labor by Governor Jim Folsom in his first term.
Ms. Thompson taught history and civics at Decatur High School and Athens College, and worked as a technical writer in Hartford, CT, and Huntsville, AL. Throughout her adult life she was active in civic organizations including the League of Women Voters, AAUW and the Mental Health Association, and she volunteered with the Girl Scouts and Walter Jackson Elementary PTA. She served on the Wheeler Basin Regional Library Board for many years.
She and her husband were members of Central Methodist Church Discussion Class. Together they supported the arts in all forms — music, writing, and fine crafts. After Mr. Thompson’s death in 1992, she moved to Fairhope and became active in the Baldwin County Democrats, and helped found the Eastern Shore Democratic Association. At the time of her death she was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairhope. An avid reader and concerned citizen for justice, Ms. Thompson’s contributions to the state of Alabama were many and varied.
Ms. Thompson is survived by her daughter, Jean Frances Thompson (Montgomery); son, Charles David Thompson; daughter-in-law, Terri Smith Thompson (Buda, TX), and grandchildren Thomas Truitt Weaver (Montgomery), Hannah Helene Thompson (Buda, TX) and Sarah Katherine Thompson (San Antonio, TX). Other survivors include beloved nieces, nephews and their families.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Katherine Thompson Endowed Scholarship at the University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences, the Fairhope Public Library, or the Alabama Writers’ Forum (Montgomery).
