Dorothy E. Thompson

Dorothy Elaine Thompson, née Glienke, was born on 29 July 1928 to Herman and Laonna (Schneider) Glienke in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She passed away 27 January 2020 in Boerne, Texas, surrounded by loving family and friends.

Dorothy—known as Dot throughout her life, or Dottie as she was called by Wisconsin friends and family—was the eldest of three inseparable sisters. After Dorothy, Mary, and Geri’s mother passed away at a young age, their aunt Katy stepped in to help their father raise them.

Dorothy attended North Division High School in Milwaukee, where she was regarded by her many friends as an all-around “swell gal”—particularly by her high school sweetheart, Ralph Orville Thompson. After they graduated in 1946, Ralph enlisted in the army and was posted to serve with the postwar occupational forces at Camp Zama, Japan. Despite the distance, the love between “Dottie and Orv” grew, and they were married in Milwaukee on 7 May 1949. Their adventures together were just beginning.

After the birth of their first son, Michael, Ralph’s military career took them first to Augsburg, West Germany. Dorothy greatly enjoyed their time there, traveling throughout the country, skiing, enjoying the culture, and connecting to her heritage. They visited many other parts of Europe while stationed in Germany. She and Ralph made their way to the Italian island of Capri for a second honeymoon and they were honored to be granted an audience with Pope Pius XII at the Vatican.

Upon returning stateside, Ralph was posted to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana, where Dorothy gave birth to two more sons, David and Jeffrey. Then, it was off to Ford Ord in the Monterey Bay area of Brooklyn, and Ava.

Dorothy’s family is profoundly grateful to the staff at Vista Verde Manor, Alamo Hospice, Morningside California, where their son Thomas was born. With Ralph’s tour of South Korea, a second posting to Germany, and extensive travels as a champion marksman, Dorothy often remained stateside to look after the home and raise the “troops”. With four boys now—and her sainthood status therewith already fully secure!—Dorothy delivered a fifth (and thoroughly unexpected) son, Daniel, at their final military posting in Fort Benning, Georgia.

After moving to New Braunfels, Texas in 1973, five years after leaving military life behind, and with all her boys in school or beginning careers of their own, Dorothy put her stenography schooling and secretarial experience to use with the Comal Independent School District. There, she served as executive secretary to the Assistant Superintendent of Schools. She also coordinated scheduling and enrollment for continuing adult education in the community.

Dorothy retired from CISD in 1989—though she and Ralph hardly “settled down”. Indeed, they lived large, continuing their travels across the length and breadth of the US to visit family and friends, with more adventures further afield in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Germany, France, Austria, and multiple trips to the United Kingdom.

Dorothy read voraciously throughout her life, with a particular affinity for history, mystery, crime, and spy novels. She binge-watched long before binge-watching was a “thing”. Her affinity for sweets was the stuff of renown, earning her the nickname “la reina (queen) de chocolate” among her caregivers. She was an avid news junkie, expertly conversant on all the happenings in the nation and around the world. (Those who chose to debate her did so at their peril!) She would often accompany her husband, a private pilot, as he took to the skies; she particularly relished the opportunity to once fly with him in an open cockpit classic Stearman biplane, as if reenacting a scene from The Great Waldo Pepper.

Dorothy also was an avid sports fan—and amateur commentator. She loved her Spurs and her Packers and especially those “stupid Cowboys”. She would expertly comment on every play, then several seconds later one would hear the professional sports commentator parrot the exact same assessment. To hear a tiny nonagenarian calling the game like nobody’s business, well that could have been an amazing second career—perhaps even alongside that “handsome, well-dressed Howie Long”, on whom she had perhaps just the slightest of crushes.

Above all things, though, Dorothy adored spending time with her extended family and her close-knit group of dear, dear friends. The Thompson home glowed of warmth and was a place of frequent, legendary celebrations. Dorothy moreover became a second mother to a great many of her sons’ friends. She was a devoted, loving wife and was simply the most gracious, supportive mother one could ever hope for.

Though diminutive in stature, she was the toughest among us. She bravely fought Parkinson’s for over a decade. Her ability to make the most astonishing recoveries from the setbacks she endured in her final year was peerless.

The example she set was of a rich, full life well-lived—right up through her journey’s end last week at the age of 91.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, sisters, son David, and her husband of 67 years. She is survived by sons Mike and his wife, Louise, of Mojave Valley, Arizona; Jeff and his wife, Wendy, of Boerne, Texas; Tommy and his wife, Susan, of New Braunfels, Texas; Dan of Cordova, Tennessee; brother-in-law Stan Sandulak; grandchildren Kyle; Tom and his wife, Kelly; David Villanueva and his wife, Alicia; Nikole; Christi Keller and her husband, JD; and her great-grandchildren Jake, Aidan, Brody, Ministries at Menger Springs, and Donna Hoffman for the loving care they provided over the last three years.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, 8 February 2020, at Zoeller Funeral Home, located at 615 Landa Street in New Braunfels. A private inurnment will be held at Fort Sam Houston at a later date.

As an expression of sympathy, donations may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Parkinson’s Foundation, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“…I believe in angels. Something good in everything I see. I believe in angels. When I know the time is right for me, I’ll cross the stream…”