| Thompson, Bill H. 204076 |
| Birth: 02/17/1929 Death: 11/17/1978 Marriage: 07/29/1951 |
| Cemetery: Evergreen (41-61-03) |
| Record Source: The Paris News |
|
See Image Thompson, Bill H.
See Image Thompson, Bill Full View Update info |
|
If you copy this information, please cite this as your source: Betsy Mills and Ron Brothers. The Death and Cemetery Records of Lamar County, Texas, ReBroMa Press, 2008, http://www.lamarcountytx.org/cemetery. (12/14/2025) |
| Notes THE PARIS NEWS, Sunday, 19 Nov 1978, p. 1: “Former Paris editor Bill Thompson killed - [picture] Former Paris News editor Bill Thompson died Friday night when his car was struck head-on by a pickup truck two miles east of Honey Grove. He was 49. The fatal crash also killed Fred Randies of Roxton, the driver of the pickup truck and critically injured Frank Bradford Sr. of Brookston. Thompson reportedly was on his way to Paris to go deer hunting. Thompson, who lived at 2924 Creek Bend Dr. in Piano, left The Paris News to join Texas Power & Light Co. in 1972 as a public information assistant. He was named manager of communications for the utility in May. HIS BROTHER, Ronald E. Thompson, is deputy director of Personnel for The Associated Press in New York. His son, Greg, is the AP correspondent in San Antonio. Besides his brother and son, Thompson is survived by his wife, Jo Ann: two sons, Mark Stephen and Jeffrey Todd; and his mother, Dixie Thompson of Paris. According to Texas Department of Public Safety officials investigating the accident, Thompson’s 1975 Ford was struck head-on by the 1968 Ford pickup driven by Randies. The pickup was in the eastbound lane when the crash occurred, authorities said. Justice-of-the-Peace Chester Oakes pronounced Thompson dead on arrival at L. P. McCuistion Regional Medical Center at 7:40 p.m. The crash occurred at 6:25 p.m., DPS officials said. FUNERAL SERVICES will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in Fry & Gibbs Funeral Home Chapel. The Rev. Ira Thompson of Garland, the Rev. Ed Hayes of Terrell and Dr. Don Renshaw of Piano will officiate. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. They will be at 3220 Allen while in Paris. If memorials are preferred over floral remembrances, they may be made to the Bill H. Thompson Scholarship Fund at Paris Junior College. Named as honorary pallbearers are Bill Condron, Billy Cunningham, Lenard Sowell, Dudley Bozeman, Orlan Ihms, Bill Harper, Steve Williams, Bill Hammett, Mike Dickinson, Jerome Davis, G. W. Robinson, Karl Brown and Warren Bills. THOMPSON WAS past president of the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce and an honorary life member of that organization. He also was a former president of the Rotary Club here. He was finance chairman for the First United Methodist Church in Piano and taught a Sunday school class there. He was a licensed lay speaker in the Methodist Church and had served as district lay leader and on various conference boards and commissions. He had been twice awarded the George Washington Medal by the Freedoms Foundation. Thompson was born in Clarksville, Feb. 17, 1929. He married the former Jo Ann Rutherford on July 29, 1951. He worked at The Paris News as a carrier boy, composing room employee, press room worker, assistant circulation manager and sports editor before becoming managing editor in 1958. HE SERVED for 20 years as an artillery officer in the Army, National Guard, and Army Reserves, retiring with the rank of major. He was a member of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, the outdoor Writers Association and the National Press Photographers Association. He had served as vice president of the Paris Junior College Ex-Student Association and in 1965 had been named ‘Boss of the Year’ by the Paris Jaycees. He had been president of St. Joseph’s Hospital Advisory Board.“ Buried near Dixie Henry Thompson. |