George Frederick Thompson

George Frederick Thompson

Santa Paula, CA

George Frederick Thompson passed away after a brief illness on September 8, 2015 at the Santa Paula Memorial Hospital with his daughter and son-in-law by his side.

George was born October 13, 1921 in Victoria, British Columbia to Margaret and George Thompson. At a young age the family moved to California, settling first in Los Angeles and then Santa Barbara. As a young boy, he would spend summers back in Canada with his grandparents. He attended La Cumbre Junior High where he played and began work at Jordano's Markets at the age of 13. He graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1939 and went on to attend his 13th year majoring in Graphic Arts. During this time he was also active in sports, the Army ROTC and the Santa Barbara Order of DeMolay receiving the Degree of Chevalier, the highest honor an active DeMolay can receive. He met his first wife Janette (Betty) Thompson at a Job's Daughter/DeMolay dance.

George and Janette were married February 15, 1942 and shortly after George was drafted into the U.S. Army and made a US citizen at that time. He was shipped over to North Africa for more training where he was placed in an anti-tank unit with the 88th Infantry Division which was the first all draftee unit placed on the front line that fought their way across Italy to enter the first freed major city, Rome and continued thru the Po Valley and Arno totaling 355 active battle days during almost 2 years. They were named the "Blue Devils" by the German soldiers because of their fierce fighting and the crossed blue 8's shoulder patches. George became a Staff Sgt. with a 12 man artillery squad and kept in touch with many of the men in the company thru the following years. He received many awards and medals, including the Bronze.

Upon return from his tour, he finally met his 18 month old daughter, Sherron for the first time. He was stationed for a short time as a trainer in Camp Roberts before he finally returned home to Santa Barbara. He returned to work at Jordanos becoming a manager of the meat department of one of their stores. He then went into the frozen food business with his dad and brothers Art and Ted. The family moved to Ventura and he worked for Porter's Frozen Foods for 13 years. When his wife, Janette, died in 1965 he returned to meat cutting in Santa Barbara. During this time he met his second wife, Helen Ford. They were married August 23, 1967.and lived in Santa Barbara. He retired as a meat market manager from Von's Super Markets in 1984. They moved to Santa Paula and were one of the first occupants in Hillview Estates retirement community.

George loved his country and loved to talk about his Army experiences. He also loved the ocean and the family spent many weekends at the beaches with other family and friends. His retirement days were spent traveling with friends, recycling newspapers with a group of Hillview Estate neighbors called the "Press Gang" who would sell the papers to a local nursery and donate the proceeds to various charities. After Helen died in 1994, he became very active in the Santa Clara Valley Hospice. He was also active in the local AARP Chapter. He attended the Santa Paula Presbyterian church in Santa Paula. A nearby neighbor Mary Engresser was a very good friend who helped him in his later years.

George was preceded in death by his two wives, Janette and Helen, brother Theodore (Ted) Thompson and step-son Ray Ford.. He is survived by his daughter Sherron Jackson (Larry) of Redding, step-son John Ford of Antigua, Guatemala, sister Sarah Jane Alvarado of San Jose, brother Arthur (Art) Thompson (Pat) of Santa Barbara, granddaughter Jannette McDaid (Shane) and great-grandchild Madeleine McDaid of Los Angeles.. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services and burial will be held on Sept. 21 at 1 PM in the Santa Barbara Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given in his memory to the Santa Clara Valley Hospice, 133 N. Mill Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060. Services entrusted to Skillin-Carroll Mortuary (805) 525-3391.