Major James L. Thompson, 98, of Marshall, beloved husband of Barbara Longfellow Thompson (deceased) and father of three sons, passed peacefully at home on Monday, September 23, 2024. James was born June 27, 1926 (or June 26 on a second birth certificate he also possessed), in New Haven, Connecticut the son of Col. Lloyd James Thompson M.D., Jessie Evans Williams Troxell, and his stepfather, Col. Alexander Richard Troxell, LLM.
He attended Columbia, Missouri schools and the Forman School in Litchfield, Connecticut. In Columbia he lived for a time with Walter Williams (great uncle) in the President’s house at the University of Missouri and spent a summer in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house (it was closed for the summer to sorority members).
Prior to high school graduation James was sent to Camp Crowder during WW II and trained for his role in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS, predecessor to the INR, CIG and CIA) and deployed with the Army to the Philippines, the Marshall Islands and Japan. In Japan, he served as a cryptographer for General Douglas MacArthur. He remained in Japan after the end of the war for a few years and then returned to Columbia to attend MU.
At Mizzou he was in the first class of the ROTC after WW II and graduated with a psychology degree and a commission in the Air Force. He was stationed in Maine where he met his wife, Barbara, on a blind date, and they were smitten and married.
Their family grew and followed Jim to duty stations in Libya, Michigan, Washington D.C., West Germany, Arkansas and Missouri as James served in Intelligence and SAC. James was also deployed to Viet Nam. James got to serve undercover as a member of the Navy Band (he played cymbals) while attending and graduating from the first class of the Defense Intelligence School in D.C. He received the bronze star and was recognized several times with trips to Washington D.C. for service with the OSS, including a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the Capitol and as guest of honor at the DIA.
Jim enjoyed standing during ceremonies for the Army, Navy and Air Force since he was “affiliated” with all the branches over his military career. He was also proud of overcoming dyslexia and attending numerous universities over his life including MU, where he was a Phi Kappa Psi, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Maine, the Sorbonne, and USC, where he obtained his master’s in aerospace management.
After retiring from the military, James and his family moved to Marshall where he worked for the State of Missouri and then founded Covenant House, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to providing Christian based service and housing to those with developmental disabilities helping hundreds of people. The central belief of Covenant House is that every individual has the right to every opportunity to maximize his/her growth and maturity.
He was a longtime member of Covenant Presbyterian Church and was also a member of Rotary, the VFW (which he joined while in Tokyo), the American Legion, the Military Officers Association of America, the University of Missouri Alumni Association (of which he served as president for Marshall chapter), the USC Alumni Association and was a 3rd Degree Mason.
He was a loving father of and role model for his three children, Dr. James L. Thompson, Jr. and his wife Kathy, Greig Evans Thompson and his wife Deborah, and Mark Thompson and his wife Stacey and a loving grandfather.
Other survivors include his older sister, Nancy Thompson Tipton of Centennial, Colorado and numerous nieces and nephews.
Nancy was a “Code Girl” in D.C. during WW II and seven decades later she and James were finally able to talk their top-secret assignments during the war after declassification. They realized they were both involved in breaking Japanese military codes, but they had never discussed it. The Oaths they took were very real to them. Due to his security clearances and travel restrictions, he was only able to share his military stories much later in life, but his memory was astounding, and he had many entertaining stories to tell about his entire life and experience.
The family would like to extend special thanks to all his friends who called on Jim and prayed for him over the last several years of his abundant life.
A visitation will be held at 10 AM and a funeral service at 11 AM Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Marshall. Burial with military rites will be at 1 PM at Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Higginsville, Missouri. Friends may sign the online register book at www.campbelllewis@sbcglobal.net
In lieu of flowers, please consider memorial donations to the Covenant Presbyterian Church, 710 E. Yerby St., Marshall, MO 65340, or the MU Missouri School of Journalism, Office of Advancement, 103 Neff Hall, Columbia, MO 65211