Orphie Mae Thompson

Nashville, TN – Entered into rest on Saturday, July 26, 2025, Orphie Mae Thompson, 95.

Orphie was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the eldest child of James Edgar and Henryetta Jonas Mckee at the start of the Great Depression. She and her parents soon moved to the family farm in Crawford County, Missouri, about 100 miles southwest of St Louis. As a child, she cared for chickens, cows, and the family gardens. At the age of twelve, her family moved to St. James, Missouri, when her father got a job with the railroad. It was there that she graduated from high school in 1947. As a young woman, she moved and worked in several places across the United States before meeting her husband, Dr. Lewis Thompson, in Washington, DC, and marrying in 1955. Dr. Thompson's work took them many places across the United States, including Texas, Georgia, California, and Alabama. During her lifetime, Orphie lived in nine states and the District of Columbia.

Orphie and Lewis raised a daughter and a son together. In addition to being a wife and mother, she earned an Associate of Arts Degree and worked most of her career for the federal government. She was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, where she was active in fundraising and various ministries. Shortly after the birth of her grandchildren, she moved to Augusta, Georgia, to be closer to family and lived next door to her children and grandchildren for many years. In 2018, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to be close to her adult grandchildren and great-grandchildren, where she lived the remainder of her days.

Orphie will be remembered as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. She was a woman of faith, the matriarch of the family who would do anything for her loved ones. She is preceded in death by her husband, mother, father, sister: Lenora Romine (Clarence.) She will be deeply missed by her children, Charlotte Houke (Billy) and Mark Thompson; grandchildren, Melanie Pond (Zach) and Alan Houke; her great-grandchildren, Jubilee, Preston, and Timothy Pond; and a host of other friends and family members.

The graveside service will be held Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at 3:00 P.M. at Westover Memorial Park, with Pastor Tim Pond officiating.

Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, 214 Davis Rd., Augusta, GA 30907 (706) 364-8484. Please sign the guestbook at www.thomaspoteet.com