Janice Helen Matthews Thompson, 91, of Tifton, formerly of Arcadia, Florida, entered her heavenly home on Wednesday, January 15, 2014, at her daughter's residence in Tifton. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 18, 2014, in the Chapel of Ponger Kays Grady Funeral Home in Arcadia, Florida. Pastor Ellis Cross will officiate. The family will receive friends on Saturday, January 18, 2014, from 1:30 p.m. until the hour of the service at Ponger Kays Grady Funeral Home.
Mrs. Thompson was born on May 26, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois and was the daughter of John Anthony Matthews and Elizabeth Pickup Matthews, both deceased. She moved to Miami, Florida in 1924 and she attended schools in Miami and graduated from Miami Edison in 1940. She was joined in marriage to Claude "Tommy" Thompson of Center Hill, Florida in January 1941, who also preceded her in death and to whom she was married for 72 years. She was also preceded in death by two sons-in-law, Jay Willard and Larry Whitmire. In 1968, the Thompson family moved to Arcadia, Florida. She worked for the DeSoto County School System for nearly thirty years, retiring in the year 2000. She was a faithful, long-time member of Brownville Baptist church, where she served as a Sunday school teacher.
Mrs. Thompson is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, Tommy and Bonnie Thompson of Archdale, North Caroline and Evan and Ingrid Thompson of Medford, Oregon; four daughters and two sons-in-law, Linda Thompson of High Point, North Carolina, Joy and Marcus Norman of Starke, Florida, Diane Whitmire of Marietta and Donna and Tommy Weathersby of Tifton; one brother, Samuel A. Matthews of Delray Beach, Florida; 14 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and five great-great grandchildren.