SHELBY — Members of St. Mary, Help of Christians Church in Shelby gathered around fellow parishioner Bessie Thompson Aug. 13 to honor her life of service, devotion to God and love for all as she celebrated her 100th birthday.
At a reception in the parish social hall after Mass, Thompson was presented with framed congratulations from President and Mrs. Barack Obama, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and Shelby Mayor O. Stanhope Anthony III.
Bessie Walton Thompson was born in Oconee, Ga., on Aug. 12, 1916. Around 1919, her family moved to Buffalo Street in Shelby. She attended Cleveland School, although her education was cut short after the eighth grade because of financial difficulties.
After her mother died, she moved in with her grandmother on Pinkney Street. It was there she met Jay Giles “JG” Thompson, her next-door neighbor and future husband.
She began working when she was very young, at first helping her grandmother with her laundry work. She also worked several jobs in and around Shelby, including a few summers at Ridgecrest Resort, where she especially enjoyed meeting people from all over the world.
After she and JG Thompson were married on Oct. 22, 1941, they were employed as a team in many different jobs. They worked at the Ogontz School for Girls, spending the school year in Pennsylvania and the summers with the students in New Hampshire and Maine. (The Ogontz School is now part of Pennsylvania State University.)
The young couple decided that the constant traveling was too much, so they settled down for a while in Cape May, N.J., where they worked at the Hotel Congress Hall. Thompson also worked at a Girl Scout Camp in East Hampton, N.Y.
In 1958, the Thompsons flew to Washington, D.C., and adopted a baby boy when he was only a few days old. They named him Danny Jay “Chip” Thompson.
The family of three then moved back to Shelby on Miles Street, where the Thompsons worked at Cleveland Country Club, First Baptist Church, Camp Thunderbird, Cleveland Hospital and Shelby High School.
After growing up Baptist and joining her husband in the Methodist Church after they were married, Thompson took instructions from Father John Huston around 1970 and joined the Catholic Church. At that time St. Mary, Help of Christians Church was located at Graham and Beaumonde streets. Thompson says she still has a special love for the old stone church.
Thompson worked as a housekeeper for several of the pastors at St. Mary's, helping to clean the church and working in the nursery watching the children.
She retired from her parish job to care for her husband and her aunt and uncle, and later her ailing son, but her devotion to serving others did not diminish.
After the death of her husband in 1992, Thompson joined the Foster Grandparent Program in Shelby. She also continued volunteering at Marion and Graham schools until around 2014.
Today, Thompson enjoys good health, independent living, visits from her family, church family and friends, and she still does all her own shopping.
— Giuliana Polinari Riley, correspondent