Elda M Thompson

Elda Marie Thompson, 95 A Perrysburg resident for 63 years, Elda Marie Thompson died of heart complications on Wednesday, July 18, 2012. Elda was born in Syracuse, New York, on August 8, 1916, the eldest child of seven. A few years later, the family moved to Berkeley, CA, where her father completed his Ph.D. in physics. Those who knew Elda often used the word “remarkable” to describe her independence, longevity, physical vigor, success at living, and conversation. She adored exercise, especially cross-country skiing and swimming. She reveled in horticulture and enjoyed the border flowers and trees in her in-town yard, where chickens strutted and cats roamed. Elda studied piano for many years and practiced yoga and tai chi until very recently. She loved to play bridge and read. Her exemplary health habits included a diet mostly free of sugar, no smoking, and no drinking. She never baked a cookie. Often ahead of her time and opinionated, she was a proponent of breastfeeding in the 1940s, when it was very unpopular. Elda set an example of continuous hard work without complaint. She graduated from DeVilbiss High School in Toledo, and from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio in 1938. Prior to her marriage, she taught in the Lemoyne School District, Wood County. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Toledo. After her last child was in school, she taught for twenty years at Whitehouse Elementary in the Anthony Wayne School District. She and her husband, Charles E. Thompson, III, raised seven children, all living: Susan Hopewell of Napoleon, Ohio; Virginia Luce of Tucson, Arizona; Charles (JoAnne) Thompson, of Batavia, Ohio; Janine (Edgar) Avila of Perrysburg, Ohio; John Thompson of Napoleon, Ohio; Molly Robinson of Whitehouse, Ohio; and Bruce (Mary) Thompson of Waterville, Ohio. Elda’s grandchildren are Kristina Luce, Wendy Diaz, Holly Hopewell, Lindsay VanHusan, Judson Avila, Ross Avila, Monica Robinson, Dylan Robinson, Conner Robinson, Preston Thompson, and Spencer Thompson. Great-grandchildren are William Hopewell and Charlotte Avila. Surviving are Elda’s sister, Ruth Hopfield Alliger, of Slingerlands, New York; and brother, John J. Hopfield, II of Princeton, New Jersey. Predeceasing Elda were siblings, Barbara, Helen, George, and Robert Hopfield; her mother, Reine Coursen Hopfield; step-mother, Helen Staff Hopfield; and her father, John Joseph Hopfield, Ph.D. A public celebration of Elda’s life will be held at noon on September 8, 2012, at Oak Openings Metro Park’s Buehner Center, 5230 Wilkins Rd., Whitehouse, Ohio (Mallard Lake). Those wishing to remember Elda are asked to consider a contribution to Hospice of Northwest Ohio or a charity of their choice.