Robert Lee "Bob" Thompson

Bob was born in Green Valley, Illinois on August 29, 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression. He had four sisters and the family had a hard struggle to get by. His father was gone working on the railroad and shipyards of California, so Bob grew up as the man of the house. His favorite times were spent in the summers at his grandpa’s farm in Delavan. He grew up learning how to drive horse teams and do the work of a man at a very young age. He well remembered the first time his grandpa let him take the reins of the team, Babe and Nancy, while driving to another farm to help make hay. After his grandpa bought an Oliver farm tractor, Bob mastered it, as well. His favorite story he told of himself, was of driving a wagon filled with grain to the elevator in Delavan when a storm came up. Many other farmers were there waiting in line, with both tractors and horse teams, and being older seasoned men, expertly drove the precious wagonloads of golden grain under the safety of a large machine shed. Bob, on the other hand, was inexperienced at backing up a four-wheeled wagon, took several tries, much to the delight, catcalls, and kidding of the watching older men. BUT, he got the job done.

At age 14, Bob’s father died, and he was truly the man of the house. He took on three jobs to support his mother and sisters. In the morning he’d get up at 4:00 a.m. to deliver newspapers, then attend a full day in school. After school, he’d work a few hours in a grocery store, after which he set pins in the local bowling alley!

Bob attended Pekin High school. When he graduated, the Korean War was raging and he enlisted in the United States Air Force. He was stationed both at Bossier Base in Bossier City, Louisiana and Killean, Texas. He told about the tough basic training, of long night marches through the Louisiana swamps, and being locked inside a building while tear gas was pumped inside to get the troops used to it.

He became an air policeman and became a part of the Elite top-secret 1095th Special Reporting Unit: combat troops in charge of security for the United States nuclear bomb arsenal. The base covered several square miles, all underground, and was home to several thousand troops. The amazing thing was, the town of Killean was only a short distance away, and the locals had no idea it even existed until it was decommissioned in the 1970’s!

Bob remembered sitting atop of a pillbox with a Thompson sub machine gun, listening to the armadillos rattle through the sage brush sounding like an entire platoon of enemy troops. He remembered those big nukes being moved by electric tractors through the miles of tunnels in the underground base, and the day a B-36 Peacekeeper bomber crashed with a full load of nukes.

The best story of his life, however, was the night he sang on stage with country legend, Hank Williams Sr. The airmen regularly went to the Louisiana Hayride to hear Hank and other country superstars. One night, his buddy bet him he wouldn’t ask Hank if they could sing with him onstage. Bob approached Hank during a break, and Hank replied, “Sure. Come on up boys.” Hank asked what they’d like to sing, and Bob replied that his favorite was, ‘Cold, Cold Heart.’ The two airmen sang with Hank, (Bob would add, “Not too well…) after which Hank told them, “Don’t call ME boys, I’ll call YOU!”

In 1952, while on leave back in Pekin, he met Joyce Deneen Furrow, a farmer’s daughter who would later become his wife. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force and put into the Air Force Reserves. He was recalled during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was ready to deploy to England, but fortunately the crisis was resolved before he left.

Bob and Joyce were married and moved to a home in Pekin. They attended Trinity Lutheran Church in Pekin as well.

They later moved to four aces on the family farm south of Pekin, where Bob built his own home and created his beloved yard, a masterpiece of fruit trees and gardens. They had two children, Scott L. Thompson and Robin D. Thompson. Bob was in his glory there; he was one of those men who could do anything and was completely self-taught.

Bob worked at American Distilling Company in Pekin as a rack man. American Distilling suffered a fire and was rocked by a massive explosion years later, with great loss of life. Bob was fighting the fire with a hose when someone announced the Red Cross had just arrived with donuts. He took a break and went through the door just as the explosion ripped through the rack house. The man with him had his shirt ripped off, leaving only the collar! He and Joyce parked atop a hill later that evening watching the flames and listening to the names of men lost in the fire being announced on the radio that he knew.

After American Distilling Company closed, he went to work at Shell Oil Company across the Illinois River and ran their asphalt plant. After the Shell plant closed, he took a well-deserved retirement. Bob and Joyce traveled with their family, enjoying the Mississippi Gulf Coast which he had visited many times during his service days. But he was never happier than when he was working and sitting in his yard, watching the world go by.

Bob was a very humble man and never complained about the hard knocks he had endured throughout his life, but above all, he left the world a far better place for all who knew him. He was a devout Christian, and is greatly missed by his family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his father, Frederick Scott Thompson; his mother, Elsie Ray-Lohman; one brother, William Thompson, who died at birth; and two sisters, Donna Estes of Colorado and Joanne Diekhoff of Pekin.

He is survived by his beloved wife; one son, Scott (Terry) Thompson; and one daughter, Robin Thompson; one granddaughter, Bethany (Matt) Medlin of Dunlap; his pride and joy, his great-grandson, Joshua Scott Medlin, who surely misses Pawpaw Bob; two sisters, Barb Slack of Madison, Wisconsin and Sandra Grey of Pekin as well as many nieces and nephews.

His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Pekin. The Rev. Mark Drews will officiate. Visitation will be 1:30 to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the church. Burial will be at Woodrow Cemetery in rural Pekin.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Preston-Hanley Funeral Homes & Crematory in Pekin.

Memorials may be given to Trinity Lutheran Church, 700 South 4th Street, Pekin, Illinois 61554 or Good Shepherd Lutheran School, 3201 Court Street, Pekin, Illinois 61554.

To express condolences online, visit www.preston-hanley.com