Robert Edward Thompson, Sr. 95, passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, September 14, 2022. The oldest son of Edward and Bessie (McAlister) Thompson, he was born October 14, 1926 in Temple, Oklahoma.

Bob loved his small town life in Temple. He was surrounded by his three younger siblings, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. He spent his early years, being best friends with his cousin James McAlister, who was just one day older than him. Bob loved watching all of James's ball games and rode his bike 7 miles to Walters to be at most every one. As a teenager, Bob worked at the local Sears store in Temple, where his father worked also.

During his senior year at Temple High, Bob enlisted in the Marines. After 3 trips to the Philippines aboard a ship as a Marine Escort, he was assigned to Corpus Christi, Texas and worked as a fireman. He wrote to Betty Pauline Brown, also from Temple, and asked her to marry him. She took a bus and joined him there to begin their life together. They were overjoyed to welcome their first child, Robert Jr. to the family in 1947. In Corpus Christi, Bob built a tiny house for his family, and enjoyed a lot of great fishing.

After his military service, Bob returned the family to Oklahoma. In 1950, he purchased the dime store in Alex to support his family. Pauline ran the cash register, little Bobby slept on a pallet under the counter, and Bob promptly got to know everyone in town… including those who became lifelong friends to the newlyweds.

In 1955, the family moved to Anadarko and grew again with the addition of daughter, Jean Ann. Soon after, the Thompsons moved to Oklahoma City where Bob took a job at Sears again, this time in the shoe department. When they arrived, he said that there were only two houses for sale in town, one for Bob's family and one for cousin James's family. Their new home had a swing set and fruit trees and was perfect for picnics in the backyard. It was there, that their final child, Sharon Sue was brought home from the hospital in 1957.

Through the years, Sears became a part of the family to the Thompsons where nearly every family member worked there at some point in time. Bob became the manager of the shoe department, where he worked for 25 years and retired at the age of 55.

To make extra income, Bob got his real estate license in 1960. He bought and sold houses for friends. Sometimes he flipped rundown properties. He purchased small houses to rent. He eventually decided to purchase an apartment building and then two more quickly followed. The family worked together, with Bob involving the whole family in maintenance.

In 1974, the grandchildren started arriving. The kids remember having to move all the tools out of the way in Pepa's brown Chevy to go on various errands to unlock doors for tenants and do apartment repairs.

In his "retirement," Bob also purchased an 80 acre farm and took great joy in caring for the animals. The grandchildren were thrilled to explore, and fish there. The kids were also fond of feeding honey buns to Bob's burro, Jerry.

Bob was warm and welcoming and never met a stranger. He was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ, worshiping at 31st and North Penn COC for 50 years and Southwest COC for 20 years.