The Rev. Jack E. Thompson, 79, of Waterloo, GA died Friday, October 10, 2008, at Tift Health Care in Tifton, GA.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at 11 AM at Bethel Baptist Church in Ocilla, GA with Rev. Tracy Clements, Rev. Larry Raynes, Rev. Keith Smith and Rev. Julian Thompson officiating. Interment will follow in Waterloo Baptist Church Cemetery, Waterloo, GA. The family will receive friends Monday evening from 7 until 9 at the funeral home in Ocilla.
Rev. Thompson was born March 31, 1929, in Tift County, Georgia to the late Oscar and Emma Mae Hatcher Thompson. He served as Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Ocilla from 1971 until his retirement December 31, 2000; also he was a former pastor of Waterloo Baptist Church in Waterloo. Rev. Thompson held a Honorary Doctors of Divinity from Faith Baptist Institute and Bible College in Resaca, Georgia. He was the first Fire Chief of the Waterloo Volunteer Fire Department and helped build the fire department and Community Center in Waterloo. As a farmer, he had the first successful patented peanut inverter.
He is survived by Son and daughter-in-law, Randy and Diane Thompson of Waterloo, GA; Daughter, Sheran Thompson of Waterloo, Daughter and son-in-law, Dianne and Jimmy Vance of Albany, GA; 7 Grandchildren and 14 Great-grandchildren. Brothers, Rev. Julian Thompson of Hamilton, Mississippi, Charles Thompson of Petersburg, Virginia and James Thompson of Chula; two sisters, Lutrelle English of Macon, and Sue (Danny) Brooks of Cornelia, GA as well as a sister-in-law: Jane Thompson of Sylvester. He was preceded in death by his wife, Grace Thompson, two brothers and 3 sisters.