James Lyle Tompkins Jr.

Jim (aka Tom) was born June 18, 1945 in Dodge City Kansas to James Lyle Sr. and Carol Tompkins , but grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota.

He was a 1963 graduate of Bloomington High School and enlisted with the Naval Air Reserve the prior year.

He served in the US Navy during the Vietnam war and his last assignment location was at the Naval Air Station in Los Alamitos, CA. He graduated from Whitworth College in 1979 with a B.A. degree in Business Management and made a lifetime career with Boeing in mechanical engineering from 1979 until retirement. He had a love of aviation passed down from his father and shared with his brothers. He was one of the manufacturing engineers at Boeing, who helped design the original Apache and Longbow helicopters.

Jim had an infectious smile and was a man of action. He was known as the “fix it” guy to anyone who needed something done. In retirement he enjoyed spending time with his family, golfing with friends, traveling and building prop sets for East Valley Children’s Theatre. He was a member of the American Legion Post 39 in historic downtown Gilbert, AZ. He was of Lutheran faith.

Jim is survived by his wife, Diana King-Tompkins, children; Tim, Adam and Darlene, stepchildren; Stephen, Jennifer and Melissa, brother; Mark and eight grandchildren; Max, Cassandra, Megan, Calyssa, Shannon, Peyton, Alex and Haven.

In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by brothers Tim and John.

A celebration of life service will be held at Christ Greenfield Church, Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:00 am. Wear Hawaiian attire if able.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to East Valley Children’s Theatre, 4501 E. Main St. Mesa, AZ 85205 or to the Wounded Warrior Project at https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org