Benjamin Franklin Thompson

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - BENJAMIN FRANKLIN THOMPSON, 90, FORMERLY OF ASHEVILLE DIED MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2001. MR. THOMPSON WAS AN OUTSTANDING ALL AROUND ATHLETE AT LOMBARD AND KNOX COLLEGES AND A GRADUATE OF PALMER SCHOOL OF CHIROPRACTIC IN DAVENPORT, IOWA. AS A YOUNG MAN HE PLAYED THE TRUMPET WITH BIG BANDS AND RINGLING BROTHERS CIRCUS. HE LATER BECAME NOTED FOR HIS ORGAN PLAYING AND WAS ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER MUSICIANS IN THE MIDWEST. A NATIVE OF KEITHSBURG, ILLINOIS. HE RESIDED IN WISCONSIN PRIOR TO MOVING TO JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA IN 1957. HE LATER MARRIED THE LATE MARGUERITE JACKSON FORMERLY OF ASHEVILLE AND HE ALONG WITH HIS WIFE SPENT THE NEXT 20 YEARS LIVING IN ASHEVILLE AND WINTERING ON LAKE OCHEECHOBEE IN FLORIDA. HE HAS SPENT HIS LAST FIVE YEARS AT ST. MARTINS IN THE PINES, WHERE HE REGULARLY ENTERTAINED THE RESIDENTS WITH HIS PLAYING. IN ADDITION TO HIS LATE WIFE, HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HIS PARENTS, DANIEL D. AND MARGARET GRACE McCLUNG THOMPSON; BROTHER, DR. JOSEPH CLAY THOMPSON AND GRAND DAUGHTER, TIA MARIE RANDOLPH. SURVIVING ARE HIS SON, REV. GARRY F. THOMPSON AND WIFE, MARIAN OF LEONIDAS, MICHIGAN; DAUGHTER, JUDITH ANN RANDOLPH OF BIRMINGHAM; STEP SON, LYNWOOD JACKSON OF ASHEVILLE; STEP DAUGHTER, LORRAINE ELLIS OF ASHEVILLE; GRANDCHILDREN, KEN AND JON RANDOLPH AND TOM, NATHAN AND MICAH THOMPSON; NINE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN AND NIECE, MARY ANN ZOGG AND HUSBAND, CHRIS. MEMORIAL SERVICES WILL BE HELD 2 P.M. SATURDAY IN THE CHAPEL OF ANDERS-RICE FUNERAL HOME WITH THE REVS GARRY F. THOMPSON AND MARK SCOTT OFFICIATING. THE FAMILY WILL RECEIVE FRIENDS FOLLOWING THE SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL HOME. TO SIGN MR. THOMPSONS GUEST BOOK ON LINE, PLEASE GO TO THE FUNERAL SCHEDULE AT www.andersrice.com.