Her Life Remembered

Thanks to my sister who worked tirelessly on the preparation of my Mom's obituary last week.

Doris Bain Thompson died at age 93 on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, in Seattle, WA.  Born in Inkerman, Ontario, Canada on August 10, 1917, she was the youngest of four children and the only daughter of James A. Bain and Della Hawn Bain. She is survived by Dean V. Thompson, her husband of 69 years, three children and their spouses: Mary Margaret Hansen, John and Trish Thompson, Houston TX and Kate and Denny Maher, Seattle WA, seven grandchildren and spouses, Caroline Hansen Kleban and Steven Kleban, Jeanne and Dan McGrady, Seattle WA, Mary Bain Hansen and Queta Gonzalez, Tanner and Greg Page, Carrie Thompson, Christopher and Heather Maher and Laura Maher.  Five great grandchildren survive her: Charlie Bean and Lulu Della Kleban, Kelan Bain and Lauren Grace McGrady and Peyton Carrie Page. 

Doris Bain Thompson graduated from Houghton College in 1938 and received a Master of Science in Music Education from North Texas State Teachers College, Denton, TX.  She was a talented musician and teacher her entire adult life, teaching music in the Bolivar, NY public school system, followed by a choral teaching position at Crane School of Music, Potsdam, NY.

In 1951, she and her husband moved to Seroe Colorado, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, where Dean, employed by Lago Oil & Transport Co.  (Standard Oil, N.J.), served as Lago Community Schools administrator. Doris developed the Lago Community Choir, and taught American History and English at Seroe Colorado School.

In 1977, after 26 years in Aruba, Doris and Dean retired to Houston, TX where their three children lived. In 1982, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. published Vocabulary Workshop, a series of textbooks for grades 7 – 12 that she authored using Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition.

In 1992, they began to spend summers in Seattle, WA, living near daughter Kate, becoming members of Seattle First Baptist Church.  In 1999, they moved permanently to Seattle. Doris served for a time on the church’s Music Commission and contributed to the organ fund and to the purchase of new choir robes. Doris’s life long love of animals and birds expanded in Seattle as she tended a menagerie of squirrels, crows, raccoons, gulls, possums and a Steller’s Jay at their home near Discovery Park.

A Memorial Service will be held at Seattle First Baptist Church on Friday, October 15, 2010, 11:00 a.m., followed by a reception at the church. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the National Audubon Society in memory of Doris Bain Thompson to Audubon Society on line donation or to National Audubon Society, Attn: DMOG, 225 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014.