Ouida McKinney Thompson

Ouida McKinney Thompson died at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia on October 17, 2018 after contending with postoperative complications of a heart procedure. She was born on June 7, 1926 in Cordele, Crisp County, Georgia, and was the youngest of five children, her brothers and sister being: Joe, Owen, and Julius McKinney and her sister, Marjorie McKinney Milliagan. She at-tended the Georgia College for Women in Milledgeville, Georgia, now Georgia College, during and just after World War II. After graduating college, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia and was an executive secretary with AT&T’s southeastern operations in the 1950’s. There, she met her husband, Dr. William R. Thompson. After their marriage, they lived in Greenville, South Carolina, while Dr. Thompson was completing his medical residency and their first two sons were born, William R. Thompson, Jr., and John Gentry Thompson. After a short time in Summerville, Georgia, they moved to Calhoun, Georgia in 1960, where Dr. Thompson practiced medicine with Dr. Bill Purcell and Dr. Roy Rabb for almost 40 years, and their third son, David McKinney Thompson was born. As a housewife and mother, Mrs. Thompson volunteered with the local Calhoun School System, the Red Cross Swimming Program, the Cub and Boy Scout, and numerous other organizations over the span of decades. She had many friends and acquaintances stretching from Maine to Texas to Louisiana and even to foreign lands such as England. However, she always reserved a special affection for her original home and farm in Cordele. She was well read, reading at least 5 newspapers every day! With her husband in tow she was a moderately-accomplished world traveler, all of this from before the days of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. Her great attributes were her curiosity and determination. She demanded much and gave much. Her many small acts of kindness to her friends and acquaintances are known to them and to their families. Her willingness to sacrifice all for her family was both her joy and badge of honor. We all love her because she loved us first. She kept us together. May we follow her example. She is survived by: her husband, Dr. William R. Thompson, to whom she was married 61 years; three sons, Wil-liam R. Thompson, Jr., John Gentry Thompson, and David McKinney Thompson; and three grandsons, Adam Weaver Thompson, William R. Thompson, III, and John Russell Thompson, along with several nieces and neph-ews, and a multitude of friends. Visitation will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2018 from 5 PM until 8 PM at Thomas Funeral Home, 535 Red Bud Road, NE, Calhoun, Georgia. Funeral Services will be conducted on Sunday, October 21, 2018 at 3 PM from Fairmount First Baptist Church, 176 Peachtree Street, Fairmount, Georgia with Dr. Bert Vaughn officiating. Interment will follow in Johnson Ceme-tery. Mrs. Thompson will lie in state at the church on Sunday an hour prior to her funeral service. Pallbearers will be sons and grandsons of Lloyd Thompson. Honorary Pallbearers are Paul and Mina Lusk, Calvin and Louise Caldwell, Reed Davis, Preston and Janie Aker, Ray Dempsey, Joe Stegall, Jerry Davis, Osvaldo Luna, Chris Smith, Tucker Smith, Delores Thompson, and Lucille Thompson. You may leave the Thompson family online condolences at www.thomasfuneralhomecalhoun.com Thomas Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for Ouida McKinney Thompson.