Patricia Lou Thompson, 77

Patricia Lou (Roney) Thompson, 77, of Whitefish, died Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, at Heritage Place in Kalispell.

Patricia was born May 5, 1932, in Champaign, Ill., to Genevieve (Crawford) Roney and James E. Roney. She spent her childhood in Champaign. At age 14, she lost her father to colon cancer. She quit school to work at the soda counter at a local drug store to help support her family at that time. It was especially important to Pat that her younger brother, Don, finish his schooling.

While in Champaign, Pat met and married a young Air Force recruit from Montana, Cecil Norman Thompson. They were married on April 23, 1950.

As an Air Force family, Pat and Cecil lived and traveled all over the United States and some bases abroad. Together they had five children.

After Cecil retired from the military, the family settled in Whitefish. Throughout their journeys together, Pat was a homemaker and loving mother. Her greatest pleasures in life were spending time with and teaching her children (and later, her grandchildren). Pat was a good cook and great provider. Later in life, she enjoyed putting puzzles together and solving crossword puzzles. She was also active in the Whitefish Women of the Moose.

Patricia is survived by five children, Sheron Ramaley and husband, John, of Minneapolis; Karen Sparks and husband, Robert Shanks, of Kalispell; Lawrence Thompson and wife, Debbie, of Houston, Mo.; Sandra Thompson and husband, Donald Baumann, of Minneapolis; and Gary Thompson and wife, Cindy, of Chandler, Ariz. Also surviving her are 13 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren; brother, James Roney, of Champaign, Ill.; and sister, Bonnie Reed, of St. Joseph, Ill.

Patricia was preceded in death by her father, James E. Roney; parents, Genevieve and Ted Walden; husband, Cecil N. Thompson; and younger brother, Donald Roney.

Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. today at Austin Funeral Home in Whitefish. Interment will follow at Glacier Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Kalispell.