Larry A. Thompson, 78, died on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, at his home. He was the loving husband of Judy, the proud father of Magen Mertes, and the adoring grandfather of Maddie and Jacob Mertes.
Larry Thompson was the most kind and gentle of souls. He loved his wife and family. He loved his friends. He loved his church. And he loved ice cream.
Larry was the most organized person in the history of humankind. He actually bought containers in which he stored his containers. He kept instruction manuals for items he purchased decades earlier. He knew precisely where each neatly labeled instruction manual was located, in case it was ever needed. (They were never needed.)
Larry Thompson was an incredibly honest man. This virtue did not prevent him from regularly using his daughter and grandchildren as excuses to go to the ice cream store.
Larry was a fiercely loyal friend. He loved camping and campfires. His happy place was a beach in Florida. He walked it with his wife, for good conversation. He walked it with friends, to get to know them even better. He walked it with his grandchildren, to hold their hands, look for seashells, and to be thankful for a life well-lived. He walked it alone, to be closer to God.
Larry loved rainbows. Throughout his life, he believed that rainbows were the pathways on which souls, like his, traveled on their journeys into Heaven.
Larry was born on November 8, 1942, in Moline, IL, the son of Russell E. and Jennie V. (VenHuizen) Thompson, Sr. He was a graduate of Riverdale High School and attended Black Hawk College, Sauk Valley Community College, and Moline Community College. Larry married Judy Miller on May 5, 1973.
He began his career in Respiratory Therapy at the former Moline[, IL,] Public Hospital from 1961-1966. From 1966 until 1988, he worked at Community General Hospital in Sterling, IL. At CGH, he became the Administrative Director of the Respiratory Care Department. Larry helped to organize and start the Respiratory Care Department, EEG and EMG programs, and Pulmonary Function testing, and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programs. After leaving CGH in 1988, Larry worked in home health care until 1993, when he began working at the Dixon Correction Center, ultimately serving as its Business Manager until 2001. As an employee, Larry helped develop Hospice Care for all State of Illinois Correctional Centers.
Decades ago, as Larry worked in Respiratory Therapy, CGH was in desperate need of a new ventilator. The hospital could not afford it. Larry started a campaign to raise Betty Crocker stamps to buy the new ventilator. With the aid of metal donation cans placed on store counters throughout the State of Illinois for over a year and a half, Larry was able to collect enough Betty Crocker stamps to buy a new ventilator. So many stamps, in fact, that they filled a large metal barrel. On the day that Larry and his team celebrated that they had finally met their goal, they were called away to an emergency. When Larry returned to his office that day, the metal barrel, filled with Betty Crocker Stamps, was missing. A janitor, not knowing what it held, had incinerated its entire contents. Larry cried throughout the night. The next morning, he called and pleaded until he was able to speak directly to the President of the General Mills company. He told the story of the mishap. He begged for a new ventilator for the hospital, even though the stamps to buy it had been destroyed. The General Mills President agreed; CGH received the new ventilator. Larry was very proud of that ventilator. His family was much prouder of his tenacity.
Throughout his life, Larry served on several civic and charitable boards, including the Rock Falls City Council; Rock Falls Library Board; every conceivable church committee that existed or that he could think of creating; Eexecutive Board of the American Lung Association of Illinois.
Larry is survived by his wife, Judy; daughter, Magen (James) Mertes; grandchildren, Madelyn and Jacob Mertes; sister, Shirley Allison; brother, Richard Thompson.
He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Beulah Florence and Kathleen Brooks; brother, Russel Thompson, Jr.
A private, family Graveside Service will be held at Grove Hill Cemetery in Morrison, IL, with the Reverend Jin Hee-Kang, Pastor of Rock Falls United Methodist Church, officiating.
A Celebration of Larry’s Life will take place in the spring of 2022, when the happiness and smiles about his life have overtaken the sadness and tears about his death, and when rainbows have once again filled the spring sky.
Memorials may be made in his memory to Rock Falls United Methodist Church or Cystic Fibrosis Research Institute.