Verla Annabelle Thompson

Verla A. Thompson, age 91, of Sioux Falls, formerly of Colton, passed away peacefully on Friday, May 2, 2025, at Dow Rummel Village in Sioux Falls. Funeral services will begin at 10:30 AM Monday, May 12, 2025, at First Lutheran Church in Colton. Interment will be at Hills of Rest Cemetery in Sioux Falls. Visitation will be from 4-6:00 PM Sunday, May 11, 2025, at the Minnehaha Funeral Chapel in Colton. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the First Lutheran Church Building Fund.

Verla Annabelle Tokheim was born at home on March 19, 1934, to Joseph and Agnes (Peterson) Tokheim. She grew up with her 4 siblings on their farm east of Colton attending the one-room Hamre School and graduating from Lyons High School in 1952. Verla then attended the Sioux Valley Nurses Training program and became a Registered Nurse. The majority of her career was spent working with Dr. John Devick at the clinic in Colton, SD.

Verla married Ron Thompson at First Lutheran Church, Colton, SD on June 1, 1958 and they made their home for 61 years on a farm that had been homesteaded by Tokheim relatives and was exactly halfway between both of their parents.

Homemade bread was Verla’s specialty. It was especially loved by her grandchildren, nieces and nephews. There would never be any left over at family gatherings and getting the last piece was a coveted claim. In later years, Verla and Ron became lefse making experts. As soon as the fall harvest was done, Verla would start mixing up batches of lefse and Ron would do the rolling and cooking. The two of them had the process down to a science and the enjoyed sharing the treat with friends and neighbors.

First Lutheran Church always played a very important role in Verla’s life. Having been a member there since the day she was baptized, her faithfulness was evident in word and deed. She taught Sunday School, lead Bible Study and hosted Ladies Aid. But her greatest passion was quilting. Every Wednesday morning, Verla and a devoted group of ladies would gather in the church basement and make quilts from anything that was donated – even taking apart clothes to cut them into squares to sew them into strips and sew the strips into colorful quilt tops. Quilts in process would regularly be found spread on her dining room table at home or neatly stacked on the chairs after she had hemmed them. Over the years, Verla helped make hundreds of quilts for those in need that were shipped all over the world through Lutheran World Relief. Verla ran a pretty tight ship in the church kitchen and the parish hall dining room. Everyone knew that if there had been a gathering in the basement, the tables needed to be returned to the proper “quilter’s layout” (map posted in the kitchen) and the kitchen returned to an orderly state.

Grateful for having shared her life are her sons, Jeff (Karen Medema) Thompson, Colton, SD; Keith (Mara) Thompson, Minneapolis, MN; and daughter Leslie (Mark) Johnson, Crooks, SD. Verla was a very proud grandmother to Matthew (Maggie) Thompson, St. Paul, MN; Carl (Brooke) Johnson, Dell Rapids, SD; Chris (Maddy) Thompson, New York, NY; Emma (Zach) Dorgan, Colton, SD; and great-grandmother to Rosie and Ella Thompson; Rhett, Riggs, Rhody, and Laramie Johnson; Nora Thompson; and Kordella and Theodore Dorgan. She is survived by her brother, Alton (Delores) Tokheim; sister-in-law Sharol (Cliff) Bjerke and numerous nieces and nephews.

Verla was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Ron Thompson; her parents, Joe and Agnes Tokheim; siblings and spouses Marilyn (Gene) Graber; Mildred (Norman) Jorgenson; brother Ronald (Ruth) Tokheim; and sister-in-law and husband, Jewyll (Rich) Peterson.