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Valerie D. Thompson

Valerie D. Thompson
June 17, 1953 – October 27, 2018

Valerie Denise Thompson was born on June 17, 1953, in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to Estella Marie Bonham Thompson and the late Retired Staff Sergeant Charlie Tyrone Thompson. She was surrounded by her family as she departed this life on Saturday, October 27, 2018. Valerie was preceded in death by her loving husband, Terry Thompson.
She accepted Christ as her personal Lord and Savior at an early age and joined the St. Wisdom Baptist Church when she relocated to Camden. Valerie grew up as an Army brat and lived in Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Knox, Kentucky; Boston, Massachusetts; Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Zweibrucken, Germany; and Fort Ord, California. Upon her graduation from Seaside High School in Seaside, California, she attended Monterey Peninsula College. She joined the United States Army in 1976 and, as an MP (Military Police), was stationed at Fort McClellan, Alabama; Korea; and Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
After Val’s honorable discharge from the military, she returned to college and attended Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. Valerie loved children and was proud to be an educator for 25 years with the Wilcox County School System and retired as a second-grade teacher from J. E. Hobbs Elementary School in Camden, Alabama. She enjoyed nurturing young people and loved shaping their minds because she knew they are the future. Valerie always wanted to provide a positive impact and make a difference in the lives of the students who were her children. It always brought her great pleasure to see her students as educated, successful adults.
Valerie enjoyed reading, traveling, cooking, listening to music, and playing her awesome vinyl selection which included decades of music. She loved all kinds of music ranging from Gospel, The Beatles, The Temptations, Smoky Robinson and The Miracles, Anita Baker, Prince and so much more. Val could sing beautifully and if you were taking a picture, she was always ready.
The Lord called Valerie home after a mercifully brief illness at Hospice Care at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Val was a prayer warrior and had a special relationship with God. She was gone before our minds could adjust to the idea of her leaving us. We know that God heard her prayers and blessed her every day.
She leaves to cherish her memories her mother, Estella Thompson; her five sisters: Pamela Boone of Seat Pleasant, Maryland; Teresa (Mark) Anderson of Doha, Qatar; Brenda (William) Crutchfield of Woodbridge, Virginia; Debra (Greg) Evans of Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Melanie (Rev. Willie) Wright of Selma, Alabama; five aunts: Gwendolyn Bonham of Atlanta, Georgia; Jerusha Bonham of Lansing, Michigan; Sophieline Champion of Anne Manie, Alabama; Queen Powell of Boston, Massachusetts; and Lucille (Leonard) Jones of Lansing, Michigan; two uncles: Bobby (Jo) Thompson of Flint, Michigan and Rev. Roosevelt (Lena) Thompson of Youngstown, Ohio; two nieces: Dr. Sarah Ann (Kyle) Burnett, and Candice Crutchfield; six nephews: Dorian (Vonnice) Boone, Donald (Aundraya) Boone, Jermaine (Lasonia) Anderson, Roosevelt Anderson, Brian Evans, and Austin Evans; great nieces: Talayeh, Aaliyah, and Noelle; great nephews: Darius, Dylan, Donald, and Noah; sisters-in-law: DeLois Thompson and Mable Watson; brother-in-law Melvin Thompson; honorary sisters, Nancy Keck and Arleen Krueger; special friend, Larry Threadgill; and a host of wonderful cousins, other relatives, and phenomenal friends.

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