Dolores Estelle (Mroczka) Thompson

DOLORES ESTELLE THOMPSON (neé MROCZKA), age 85, formerly of Reynoldsburg and Parma, Ohio, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on December 27th, 2022 at Mother Angeline McCory Manor in Columbus, Ohio.

Dolores, known to her friends and family as “Del,” was born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 19, 1937. She graduated from Parma Senior High School in 1955 and then attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where she majored in education and pledged the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She graduated from OU in 1959.

After her marriage that same year, she moved to Columbus where she worked for the Attorney General’s Office from 1959-1960 and taught in the Columbus Public School system from 1960-1962. She then focused on raising four sons over the course of the next two decades, and also returned to her teaching career in 1975. Del taught fourth grade at St. Pius X School in Reynoldsburg until 1979 and then began a long career in the Reynoldsburg City School system. Until her retirement in 2007, she taught fourth grade and later served as a special instructor in reading at French Run Elementary School. She earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Dayton in 1987. Through her thousands of hours of attentive work, she influenced generations of students in Reynoldsburg and served as a model and mentor for many younger teachers.

Outside the classroom, Del was a creative soul who loved to draw and paint and to decorate her home with beautiful furniture and art. Her greatest joy, however, was her garden, which expanded over the years to fill most of her backyard and which provided a peaceful place for her, her pets, her family, and her circle of friends.

Del lived courageously in the face of adversity, fighting and sacrificing for her children as a single parent beginning in 1977, and maintaining her unconquerable spirit in the wake of a stroke in 2014. She never gave up her concern for her family and never let go of the Catholic faith of her upbringing, even in moments of great doubt. Del was and is an inspiration to her family and friends. She is deeply loved and will be greatly missed.

Del was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Estelle. She is survived by her children: Matthew (Sarah Wonson), Daniel (Jennifer Speed), Patrick (Angie), and Timothy (Laurie Rinehart-Thompson); her grandchildren: Matthew Jr., Rachel (Newton Kimberly), Helena, Zach, Andrew, Kyle, Noah, and Joel.

A Mass and Rite of Christian Burial will be held for Del in the chapel at Mother Angeline McCrory Manor, 5199 East Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, January 14th. Visitation with family members and friends will begin at 9:00 AM, with the eulogy to be offered at 9:45 and the Mass to follow. A private committal ceremony at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Licking County will take place after the Mass.

Del’s family wishes to express a special thanks to everyone at Mother Angeline McCrory Manor for their tireless compassion and care for Del over the past eight years. Charitable donations can be made in Del's name to Mother Angeline at https://www.carmeliteseniorliving.org/donation-opportunities-in-columbus-oh/. Online condolences can be made at www.schoedinger.com.