Jill Marie Atkinson Thompson

CLASS DISMISSED My mother, Jill Marie Thompson nee’ Atkinson, was a woman filled with wonderful attributes and splendid qualities and throughout her life she held various titles and occupations. But the role she identified with most closely and defined herself by was teacher. Her innate intelligence and wisdom pervaded her every deed and her lessons, although not always explicit, were always filled with easy reason and indisputable logic. Education was mom’s vocation and avocation, her calling, and her most inspiring lessons are evident in every facet of her life. After graduating from Biloxi High School in 1970, gaining accolades such as Miss BHS and Camellia Queen , Jill earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from Southern Miss and, later, a Master of Education in Secondary Education from William Carey College. She was a popular teacher in Biloxi’s public and private schools for many years before becoming a Training Analyst, working primarily under civilian contracts on Keesler Air Force Base. Education was a constant presence in her daily life and the ability to instruct and impart wisdom was to her instinctive. The lesson that stands out from the many is simple in thought but complex in action. Always consider others first. Her life was lived in the strictest adherence to this lesson and evidence of her benevolence is carried in the heart of each person she met. Amongst her sisters Janice, Joye and Jeanine she was the unassuming but crafty ‘brains of the operation’ while growing up in Biloxi and later graciously offering our home here as the unofficial family headquarters for holidays and occasions year after year. The Atkinson girls were raised by mother, Joan, and father, John, to revere and respect service and charity and my mother and her sisters truly embody these admirable ideals. Certainly “The Thompson Boys” (as my dad Tommy, my brother Doug and I are often collectively titled) will recall halfway eaten meals well before poor mother had even joined us at the table. For my brother and I, the most striking example of her selflessness was her knack for making each of us feel the favored child; never missing a single baseball game (Doug) or theatrical performance (me). Not to mention serving a record eight consecutive terms at President of the Biloxi High School PTA. An abundance of substantial, time-tested friendships provide further illustration of mom’s gracious nature. One such friend, Margo Stafford has been mom’s trusted confidant and true blue sidekick since the two attended middle school together at Fernwood Junior High. Now a middle school teacher, Stafford pays homage to Jill and their bond by reminding her students that the friendships they currently enjoy may very well last them a lifetime. In fact, Jill’s social circle was filled with teachers and educators and she was a life-long active member of honorary teacher’s sorority Delta Kappa Gamma. Stafford, teacher pal Sharon Chiniche and mom were a common trio as their kids were growing up because, as fate would have it, Margo and Sharon also each reared two boys-the same ages as Doug and me. Sister-in-law Tina, a recently retired elementary school principal and 17-year special education teacher with Biloxi Public Schools, is support personified, always standing by to lend a hand or lend an ear and my mom considered their sisterhood bona fide, blood relation or no. Later in her life, mom battled and ultimately succumbed to the effects of Parkinson’s disease and no shortage of lessons were acquired by anyone who witnessed her grappling with the illness. Lessons in dutiful devotion were inadvertently taught by my father, as observation of his gentle caregiving revealed the very essence of love and commitment. Lessons in endurance. In survival. In unity. All of these byproducts of my mother’s gracefully pedantic disposition. To assess her lifetime is to discover the predominant of all Momma’s lessons. Simply: live. Although abbreviated by sickness, Jill Thompson’s remarkable life was a life well lived and through her countless affirming and sustaining lessons she will remain eternally within the hearts all of us who love her so much. She is preceded in death by her parents, John and Joan Atkinson, a brother, Jonny Atkinson; and a sister, Janie Atkinson. She is survived by her husband of 38 years, “Tommy” Thompson; two sons, Doug (Jessie) Thompson, Cliff Thompson; a grandson, Cameron Cole Thompson; three sisters, Janice (Wayne) Barnett, Joye (Larry) Bucklin, Jeanie Atkinson; mother-in-law, Anna Thompson; brother-in-law, Kirk Thompson; sister-in-law, Tina Thompson along with many numerous nieces and nephews. The family would like to Thank, Compassus Hospice, especially Nurse Jacque and Melissa. Special Thanks to her two best friends, Margo Bogard Stafford and Sharon Chiniche. Visitation will be on Sunday, December 18, 2011 at Howard Avenue Chapel of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. recitation of the Rosary. Funeral Mass will be on Monday, December 19, 2011 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church at 11:00 a.m., In-state from 9:30 a.m. till Mass time. In lieu of flowers, the family would like memorial to be to a Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, please email dougt9@aol.com for more information.