Glenn Gordon Thompson

Here are two articles that were printed in the newspaper:

Dec 8, 1954, at 4:15 pm, Glenn Thompson of 541 W. Commonwealth Ave, reports a bicycle stolen. Later it was discovered it was being used by his brother.

Wednesday, April, 21, 1954, his mother, Mrs. Lucille Thompson was elected Mother of the year in Fullerton, California.

The newspaper back then was the Social media of today, where you would publish such day to day items.

His mother also recorded that he enjoyed reciting the Lord's Prayer. She said “he did quite a good job.”

Glenn grew up in Los Angeles, California, moving to Fullerton in 1947, to live in a house that his grandpa, Arthur Gordon Thompson built. Michelle, his daughter, recalled him telling her that he had an avocado tree that grew between the house and the garage. He loved that avocado tree. He stayed in Fullerton through High School, till he enlisted in the Marine Corp., in June 1960. Some of his duties included Rifleman and Security Duty on the USS Ticonderoga Naval Aircraft in San Diego till August 1962. He is a Vietnam vet and would never talk to his family about that time, but we do know that a cannon ball rolled onto his big toe and the toe nail was never the same. We also know he laid in a ditch, shot, for 3 days before being discovered alive. The nightmares that haunt war vets are real and hard.

He married Sharon Eileen Wrigglesworth on June 19, 1965, his 23rd birthday. Their first child, Tiffany Cathlene was born on March 29th, 1966. On Feb 18, 1968, he smoked his last cigarette, walked in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized. He was called to his first Stake Mission by President Durham in Santa Ana, California on Sept 7, 1969 and he has served many missions over the years.

His second child, Glenna Suzanne was born on January 25, 1971. He moved to Yerington, Nevada in February 1971 and then moved to Fresno, California where Michelle Saria was born on March 3, 1972. On March 4, 1972, Glenn was ordained as a Seventy by the Apostle Marvin J. Ashton.

In May of 1972, the family moved back to Yerington, Nevada and on June 23, 1975, Luchana Maria was born. We had a foreign exchange student from Chile named Ana Maria. Luchana's name was made from our Grandma Lucille and Ana Maria to make Luchana Maria. In Yerington, Glenn had a horse named Paint that he loved. He would have enjoyed having horses his entire life if he could. He was Honorably discharged from the Army National Guard and as a Reserve of the Army on June 10, 1974.

In 1976, he moved to Prescott Valley, Arizona. It was the bi-centenial year and our mom made all the girls including her, matching pioneer dresses and made Glenn a matching button down shirt with the same floral fabric. He worked in the Copper mines and as a Lumberjack. He got a splinter of wood in his hand and he ended up with gangrene. He was in the hospital for weeks where he almost died. The kids were not allowed to visit so we would record cassette tapes of us singing primary hymns and saying Hi and we Love you. He would listen to them and record messages back to us.

Joshua Chase was born on May 15, 1978. We moved to Kayanta, Arizona 1978, where he was employed at Peabody Coal mine as a drilling and shooting foreman. While we lived in Kayanta our mom was pregnant but the closest Hospital was in Page, Arizona. Jason Don was born in Page, Arizona on May 22, 1980. While he was in the hospital in Phoenix for 3 months, the family moved to Page.

His last child, Glenn Jared was born on August 19, 1983. He continued to work at Peabody coal mine as a Lead Foreman of Heavy Equipment until he had early retirement after 18 years. He served as a volunteer fireman and EMT from February 1983 till the mid 1990's where he carried a pager and when it went off, he would spring into action. Page would get cold and the windshields would ice over and we would have snow occasionally. Michelle remembers that he would place a towel on the outside of the car over his windshield. That way he could pull the towel off and hurry away to the fire station. After he retired, while in Page he drove the school bus and the wilderness river adventures tour bus. He picked up the daily sun in Flagstaff and delivered papers in Page and owned phone card machines on the Reservation.

When Michelle was in High school, Glenn chaperoned her on Band trips and would drive the van. One trip during Michelle’s senior year they went to Las Vegas and where he was sleeping in the gym and playing hand ball with the kids.

There was a popular local swimming spot at Lake Powell that had a beach and inlet away from the boats and cliffs to jump off of called the coves. We would take the inter tubes from Glenn’s work on the large tractors at Peabody Coal mine and strap them to the roof of our station wagon. Glenna said she remembers 14 people being able to climb on them.

He had moved back and forth between the Phoenix valley and Page for several years. He had a variety of jobs. Taxi driver, Diamondbacks ticket taker and usher, and he worked for the Post Office in Fountain Hills for about 5 years.

Glenn and Shari were married for around 27 years. Then they divorced for 5. They then decided to remarry each other. They printed shirts for us that said the parents of my six brothers and sisters finally remarried. They were only remarried for about 5 years. They are still sealed together in the temple today.

When Nathan was about 10 months old, Glenn made it down to visit the Gawley home. After 6 months of visiting, we asked if he was ever going back to Page, not knowing he would end up living with us for over 13 years. The first 9 were pretty good but the last 4 were a little hard. He loved the kids when they were toddler age. He would play with them. Take them to Taco Bell and McDonalds lunches. He loved to sing in the ward choir, stake choir and millennial choir every Christmas.

Anyone that knows a Thompson, knows that they are strong and opinionated but emotional. There were very few times when you were driving that Glenn hasn't given the exact verbal directions one should take and why his way is the best. He has also been known to eject a cassette tape and toss it out the window if he didn't approve of it.

Glenn was well loved by those in the Meadows Ward while living with the Gawleys. They appreciated his willingness to serve those in the neighborhood. He would volunteer for everything, which meant that everyone else would go help when he signed up. He enjoyed having the grandkids go along with him and even when his body wasn't able to actually provide the service, he would still show up and help wherever he could.

Glenn was also a story teller and an over-sharer. The problem was you needed to not be his family. We asked him to write down or tell us stories each Sunday and we couldn't get stories out of him. However, at a testimony meeting, he was really good at sharing his testimony, or when a nurse was making a house visit or if you went with him to a Dr's appointment, you would hear story after story.

Here is a funny story from Michelle. One thing we inherited from my father is his lead foot. When I was about 16, I was coasting down the McDonald's hill in Page. I was pulled over by a police officer. He said he would let me off with a warning but only if I went home and told my dad that I knew he was pulled over tonight also and let off with a warning. My dad was a little shocked when I knew he had been pulled over and we both had a good laugh.

On March 29, 2016, Glenn was recognized for the incredible work he was doing with the Italian indexing and arbitrating. “In our last report for a 12 month running total you had completed during that period over 41,000 records. This placed you as the 12th highest contributor in the entire world,“ according to Elder Cheney. Glenn was in chronic pain for decades and his body was failing his ability to serve but he was able to sit at his computer and index names and records for hours. He loved Genealogy, the Temple, and indexing. He also loved his time serving the many different stations in the Temple. It was especially sweet when you were able to go to the temple and see him there.

Glenn also loved to serve by taking notes on Sunday during sacrament meetings. He would then send a thank you card to each person and refer to his notes so they would be personalized. Even when he lived with Michelle, he put a card in the mail for her one day. He wanted to take that time to serve and make others feel special.

He loved to think of others and buy little gifts. Sometimes the gifts were questionable. One year, when Saria was about 10 years old, she received a large dump truck. However, other gifts were very appropriate and appreciated. For instance, Glenn gave each of his daughters a set of pearls and earrings.

On September 20, 2024 Michelle took the day off to pick up her cousin Shannon. Michelle recalled, “After dropping the kids off I headed to wash my car. On the way I stopped at Fry's for gas. I was pumping the gas and my dad pulled up to the pump next to me. I waved hi and asked him what he was doing. He said he needed to clean his windshield and get groceries. I cleaned his windshield and headed out to wash my car. A few minutes later my dad called me. His battery had died. I turned around and jumped his truck. He headed out to fix his battery and I headed on my way. I was glad that the Lord knew where I needed to be and when and that I was able to listen to the impressions and be where I needed to be. I am also so grateful that Glenna had the impression to go by dad's on the day he passed. I am grateful that he taught his children to learn and be led by the spirit. My dad never made his millions of dollars that he would have enjoyed but, no matter what the struggles or trials were in his life, we always knew that family came first. He spent his life in service of others, his God, his country, and his family.” Tiffany recalled “that on her 5th birthday, Glenn’s cousin Mel bought her a swingset for the back yard in California. Dad’s horse, Paint, was in our back yard in Yerrington, NV and I would play in the alfalfa fields across from our house. Dad took us hunting with him and his friends and their families. Our family would hang out with the Turners a lot, who had kids our ages. Dad worked at the Anaconda Copper mine in Nevada and also cleaned the school. I remember him using the floor buffer. Dad would travel to other small towns to play baseball and basketball. In 1983, Andrew was born and even though it was only 8 weeks after their last child was born, they loved being grandparents! On my first Mother’s Day, dad bought me a pretty wooden box with a poem about a mother and her baby written on it. I still have that box. He spent a lot of time driving his grandchildren Brennen and Ashley to and from Page when Glenna & I lived in Cottonwood.”

Glenna recalled that “when I was about 9 or 10 years old, I remember going to work with dad a few times when he worked at Peabody Coal Mine. I would ride around in his yellow Ford company pickup truck as he made his rounds doing maintenance and repairs on the gigantic mining equipment. I’ll never forget seeing him climb high up on a boom line to make a repair, or sitting in the truck by the shop and having one of the massive dump trucks park right next to us. The wheels were massive and that’s where we got the huge inner tubes we would strap to the top of the family station wagon and spend our summers on at Lake Powell. My dad attended every play, performance, sporting event and concert that he could for both his children and his grandchildren. When I was in high school, he would volunteer on the ambulance for the high school games so he could have sideline views to watch me cheer and watch Michelle march with the band, and years later to see my daughter, Ashley play in the marching band. He also traveled to see Jason play sports.”

Glenna’s daughter Ashley remembered that when she was young she would see him at the ball fields umpiring the games for her dad and uncle while she was in Page for the summer. She would always run up to him and say hi!

Glenna also recalled “When i was growing up in Page, if I wanted to find my dad, he could always be found sitting on the right-hand side of his California King waterbed in his undergarments holding the newspaper in his hand, most likely doing the crossword, listening to a game on the radio beside him on the night stand, and watching sports or a western on the TV at the foot of his bed all at the same time. The door was always open for us to come chat with him, and he would jump up to help us.” Glenn Jared remembered “that dad loved sports and that he was a Giants, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks fan. My dad ran 10 K’s and marathons for years until his knee pain prevented him. He umpired for the Page city softball league for years.” Glenna also recalled “In his later years, you would usually find him in his room on his laptop either doing Italian Indexing or playing a computer game called Luxor. He was pretty computer savvy for an old guy! My kids lovingly call my dad Grumpa, a name he gave himself, and it stuck! He was often in pain and a little grumpy, but he still loved you! When my oldest daughter Ashley was growing up, he would often drive her back and forth between Phoenix and Page to visit her dad, so they spent a lot of time together.”

Glenna also recalled that “we don’t know a lot about his military service, but we know that he was proud of being a Marine and loved collecting memorabilia. He had t-shirts, keyrings, watches, tie clips, flags, you name it, all with the Marine Corps Emblem and the motto “Semper fi” on them. My brother, Jason, was in the Navy and was stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The Navy has what is called a Tiger Cruise where family members can sail aboard their ships with their service member during the last few days of their journey home after a long deployment. In 2005, my dad and I had the opportunity to go on a Tiger Cruise, and then a few years later, My dad and Michelle went. We flew to Oahu, boarded the aircraft carrier and sailed with the crew to San Diego, CA and up to Everett, WA. Dad was so proud of Jason’s military service and thoroughly enjoyed the experience! When I lived out of state and flew home for visits, my dad would pick me up from the airport and let me borrow his car. In the CD player I would either find the Carpenters or Captain and Tennille. I would listen to them for nostalgia’s sake and reminisce about taking long trips from Page with the family in our large station wagon when we traveled out of town to Flagstaff, St George, Las Vegas, Phoenix, or Orem, UT. My dad was pretty good at sharing music selections with us, and we usually got a “one for us” to “one for him” ratio, unless there was a game he could listen to full blast over the staticky AM radio. My dad loved to dance and was a dance instructor in his teen and young adult years, but the only dancing I remember him doing was in our living room after a long day’s work, wearing his dusty work clothes and dirty boots. He had a large key ring loaded with keys hooked to his belt that would jingle as he would do the twist for us and make us laugh! My dad was a goof, and liked to make funny faces. He collected belt buckles and had them in a display case by our front door. He loved to sing! I remember loving to hear him and my mom sing hymns during church, and in the church choirs. I joined them when I was old enough, and years later, when we both lived with my sister, Michelle and her family, we sang together again in the ward’s amazing choir. Most recently, he sang with the Voices of Christmas choir as they shared a musical testimony of Jesus Christ and his divinity. One of my favorite pictures is of him and I backstage following one of his performances.”

Glenna recalled “somewhere around 2004 my dad purchased a blue Ford extended cab pickup truck. The fuzzy blueish grey steering wheel cover was a permanent fixture, from time to time he would deck it out with Marine emblems. He used it to play taxi driver for grandkids either locally to and from school and sports or over the road between Phoenix, Flagstaff and Page. He used it to help with countless moves over the years, I’m sure, most of which were mine! The boys, my brothers, got that thing stuck out at Lone Rock beach and got chewed out by Dad a time or two! We have joked for years that dad loved that truck so much he would be buried in it! My dad had an extensive tie collection.” Everyone at the services wore one of his ties in his honor. all the men in the family are wearing one of his ties in his honor.

Glenna’s final thought were shared from her Facebook post, “Glenn Thompson, the man I have called Dad, Daddy, and Daddio, and whom my kids and grandkids have called Grumpa, slipped away from this life and was welcomed into heaven on Saturday. Though I know he is at peace and no longer suffers from physical pain, my heart still aches because I will miss my dad, and my kids & grands will miss their Grumpa. Keep a loving watch over us Dad! I miss you and I love you! And I’d like to end with I look forward to the time we get to make silly faces at each other again!”

Dee always appreciated that Glenn always included Aiden and Audra with all the other grandkids and didn’t treat them differently. She liked that Glenn liked to dress up for occasions, always wearing a nice tie. Glenn would always tell her that he was so glad that she and Josh found each other and are together.

A devoted man to God and his family. Glenn, dad, will be deeply missed by all who knew him.