THOMPSON, Abbie H. Barnes

Born April 16, 1924, Scituate, Massachusetts, daughter of William and Vernetta (Jones) Barnes. Died June 10, 2019, Nanaimo, BC with her precious family around her.

Abbie served in the US Navy as Seaman First Class Aerographer’s Mate (Meteorology and Oceanography expert) during WWII. She studied Anthropology at the University of Toronto where she met her husband, Canadian Army veteran Kenneth S. Thompson. His career as teacher and principal took their family all over Ontario: Port Burwell, Perth, Toronto, Pickering, Wawa, Galt (Cambridge). In 1986, they crossed Canada to settle first in Sooke, then Victoria, BC; after Ken’s death in 2015, Abbie moved to Nanaimo. She was an avid curler and swimmer, a keen birdwatcher, a lifelong genealogist (UEL, DAR, Mayflower), a peerless player of bridge and Scrabble, and a magnet for friends. Abbie embodied love.

Abbie was predeceased by siblings, Priscilla, Louise, Billy, twin, Anne; infant son, Gregory; grandson, Peter; daughter-in-law, Susan. She leaves six children, Georgianne (Fred) Kennedy, Shirley (Jonathan) Ostroff, Stephen (Cynthia Heldmann); Andrew (Kirsteen McCulloch), Gregory (Valerie Slavin), Elizabeth (Rob) Wager; 13 grandchildren, Amanda (Wayne Williams) and Sarah (Jamie Near) Kennedy, Julia (Martin) Vaz-Jones, David (Liba) Ostroff, Rachel (Jacob) David, Rebecca (Joshua) Brown, Christopher, Aimee (Dan Wong), Nicholas and Benjamin Thompson, Abigail (Rob) McDougall, Will (Courtlyn Floyd), and Emma Membery, plus honorary grands Mitchell, Cara, Kaileen; 26 great-grandchildren, including Clara and Gloria Williams, Murray, Lydia and Sam Near, Benjamin and Abigail Vaz-Jones, Brandon Morris, Tyler Thompson, and Rowan Membery.

Celebrate her life with us at Beban Park Social Centre, 2300 Bowen Road, Nanaimo, 2 p.m. Tuesday, August 27.

Donations in her honour may be made to CNIB (1-800-563-2642) or Parkinson Canada (1-800-565-3000).