Irene Thompson

CELIA THOMPSON Loving wife of the late Herbert Owens Thompson Sr., beloved mother of five children - and many, many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, passed away peacefully on December 28, 2008, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. Irene was born July 12, 1919, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the sixth of 12 children of Mary Faye Nault and Victor Joseph Ladrie. Growing up in a large, loving house hold taught Irene the vital life lesson that there's nothing more important than family - and throughout her long life, no matter how far she ventured, family was always the touchstone to which she returned. In her time, she traveled extensively throughout the world, living for a period on the United States Territory of Guam in the Mariana Islands, before settling in Malibu, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean this New Englander came to love so well. Though Irene worked for the Housing Division of the United States Navy, her real career was raising her five children - Jeanette Binion of Port Hueneme, California; Shirley McGlinchy of Port Hueneme, California; Joan Langer of Northridge, California; Tommy Thompson of Reno, Nevada; and Jean Kasem of Bel Air, California - children who learned the lesson of the importance of family from Irene, and went on to bless her with more than three dozen grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Irene spent her last years living with her daughter Jean Kasem and her husband Casey in Bel Air, California, where she involved herself in the community, in social concerns, and in numerous charitable institutions. She was a woman who believed firmly in the importance of giving back - of sharing the blessings of her life. Irene Celia Thompson - a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, friend and giving soul who will be missed by all who knew her. Visit www.dailynews.com to express condolences and sign this guest book