Ann Thompson, of Joplin, escaped her pain and disability of the last too many years on her Lord's day, Sunday, December 13, at home surrounded by her immediate family. She joins the God she loved so deeply and personally, and is reunited with all the members of her immediate and extended family who have gone before her.
Ann was born to Clyde and Myrtle (Teer) Burleson on September 3, 1942, in England, AR, the youngest of two daughters and three brothers. She spent her earliest years on a typical 1940s farm near the tiny community of Keo, Arkansas, learning a girl's farm chores at her mother's knee – and rescuing the occasional unfortunate "squashed toad" for a decent burial.
She attended Little Rock Central High School during the 1957 federal school integration enforcement, remaining friends with members of "Little Rock Nine" to the end of her life. A bright, eager learner, with extraordinary Southern courtesy and helpfulness, she also attended secretarial school. One of her prized possessions was the first dollar she ever earned, in 1957, which she had at her passing.
Ann married her childhood sweetheart, Wayne Gass, in 1959. She became a superb homemaker, mother of daughter Elizabeth and son Charles, and producer of "the best fried chicken ever cooked".
She was the "go-to lady" of the large Gass and Burleson extended families for advice and help, to a fault. Ann was the business partner and best friend in retail store and, later, insurance agency management with her husband. She served as president of the Fort Smith, AR, Girls Club; as a physician practice office manager; commercial interior decorator; and veterinarian's office manager and surgical assistant.
Ann married Dick Thompson in Fort Worth, TX, on September 28, 1996; he survives. She was the light of his life, and the mother of the only loving children and grandchildren he has ever had. Ann was Mammy or Mam to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Additional survivors include son Charles Gass and wife Rebecca, Oklahoma City, Okla.; daughter, Elizabeth “Liz” Jenkins and husband Don, Rogers, Ark.; five grandchildren, Addison Gass, Donny, Amanda, Chastity and Leisha Jenkins; and six great-grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday at Mason-Woodard Chapel. Randy Wilson, Minister will officiate.
Arrangements are under the direction of Mason-Woodard Mortuary & Chapel.