Marion Thompson
CROSBY - Marion H. Thompson was born on May 7, 1919, in Grand Forks, N.D., to Charles C. and Olga J. (Jorgenson) Gifford. She died Jan. 29, 2008, at the Cuyuna Regional Care Center in Crosby. She was a former resident of Nisswa and also of Hallett Cottages in Crosby.
She graduated from Buhl High School and later the University of Minnesota with a degree in physical education. She married Stanley Thompson in July of 1944 and divorced in 1952.
Marion Thompson
Having a variety of careers during her lifetime, she was recreation director for Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis. She worked for Douglas Aircraft on the aircraft assembly line in Illinois. She was part owner of a phonograph sales company in Chicago. She worked as a teacher at several children's camps, in both New York City and Portland, Ore. She taught physical education at Superior Central High School (Wis.) and in Collinsville, Ill. In addition to physical education, she was an instructor of water safety for the Red Cross. She served as the executive director of the Minnesota Mobile Home Association and also held a similar position in Illinois for four years. In 1952, she received the grand national award in the mobile home industry for association publications. She managed the Pines Mobile Home Court in Hopkins, Minn., and worked with friend, Hope Lindman, at the Highland Supper Club in Duluth. She later operated Lundahl's coffee shop in West Duluth. She enjoyed volunteering with the Canosia Historical Society and contributed to efforts to preserve historical artifacts from the township.
To those who knew her best, no crossword puzzle was too difficult a challenge and no newspaper was safe from being read line-by-line and cover-to-cover (with many clippings ultimately saved for friends and family). She enjoyed driving her "adopted grandkids" to the bus every morning and showering them with sweets. She watched out for her family in earnest and recorded many observations on life while she folded clothes and did as many household chores as they would allow.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Robert Sr. and Charles Jr.; sisters, Lorraine "Larry" Amendola and Gerri Baxendale; and friend and co-worker, Hope Lindman.
She is survived by nephews, Frank (Marilyn) Amendola Jr., Wayne (Betsy) Amendola and Jody (Vikki) Amendola; and nieces, Lori (Roger) Martell, and Brenda Chartier. She is also survived by a cousin, Sonja Mammola; and her beloved "adopted family," Larry, Beth, Rachel and Peter Lindman, Adam and Toby Smith and Liza (Lindman) Eckardt.
Interment will be held at the Lakeview Cemetery (Buhl, Minn.) in the spring and a private time of coffee and remembrances is being planned for those whose lives she touched.