Velma Jean (Cook) Thompson
Velma Jean (Cook) Thompson returned to her Father in Heaven on 28 September 2014. She was born on 15 December 1944 in Seattle. Her twin brother, Richard (Dick) S. Cook, followed 7 minutes later. Their parents were Robert and Leoda (Latulippe) Cook of Renton. Velma Jean and Dick, along with their siblings, Leslie, Leone and later Alice grew up in the Green River Valley, where Southcenter Mall is today. She loved nature and exploring the hills and farmland areas. As a student she loved horses and music. In 1965, she married Lawrence (Larry) G. Thompson. Their family soon grew with three sons and three daughters. With a busy family, Velma Jean continued to pursue an education, culminating in a BA degree from Central Washington University in 1985 and a Master’s Degree in 1991.
Velma taught at Lake Youngs Elementary School for ten years. She was a loving wife, mother and teacher who fostered education, supportive leadership, and harmony in her home and classes.
Velma Jean and her family moved to the Snoqualmie Valley 1978. As a long time Valley residents, she loved the small town environment. She raised horses, cows, chickens, turkeys, dogs, cats, rabbits, and mice, though the last unwillingly. She also raised kids with a loving guiding hand and a soft voice. All of the children graduated from Mount Si High School, with a Valedictorian and a Salutatorian among them. All six have graduated from college, four with Master Degrees, and one with a Doctorate. She found the Valley a wonderful place to raise children, and she set aside funds to help the grandchildren. Velma Jean set the tone of the home with books, reading to the children and grandchildren at every opportunity. But the tone was also set by her love, patience, respect, and belief that each of us “were doing the best we could” at that time. She was always accepting of others.
She also loved God, and served him through her church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For many years Velma Jean taught children in Primary, Sunday school, and Young Women’s classes, and with adults in Relief Society and teacher improvement classes. She was also accepting of God’s will. In 1998, she suffered a devastating injury in a vehicle collision that left her unable to control her body’s movement below her shoulders and became wheelchair bound. With determination, she continued to teach, counsel and guide children, serve as secretary of her local book club for nine years, and took part in her Church and family events. Those family events of births, baptisms, graduations, weddings, and funerals crisscrossed the Western United States, from Del Rio,Texas to Omaha, Nebraska with a lot of stops in Utah.
Velma Jean will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.
She is survived by her husband, Larry; sons: Matthew (Trish) Thompson (grandchildren [gc]: Sydney, Ashley, Abbie), Shawn (Natalie) Thompson (gc: Kate, William, Jacob, Hailey, Ingrid, Clara, Elsie); daughters: Tamara (Jerry) Naylor (gc: Todd, Makay, Allyce, Rachel), Laura (Robert) Belknap (gc: Tate, Delaynie), Wendy (Jason) Pynn (gc: Avery, Owen, Addison).
Their son, Peter, passed away in 2006. His widow, Keri Thompson McBride, and their three girls (Brooke, Kailey, Madison) bring the number of grandchildren to twenty-two.
A memorial service was held in celebration of Velma Jean on Saturday, October 4th at the LDS chapel in North Bend and she will be interred at the Tahoma National Cemetery.
