Grant THOMPSON

The following bio was taken from page 406 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Grant Thompson, Sr., born in 1904 in Overton, Texas, was married to Alma Wise at Canton, Texas in 1923. He owned and operated a grocery store and gas station east of Sexton City when the oil boom came. He sold out to work for the Rocky Mount School as a maintenance man and bus driver. Consolidation with New London Public School in 1943 occurred, and he continued as a bus driver with a total of thirty years at his retirement in 1965. Prior to his retirement, he and his wife were owners of Sunshine Nursing Home, which they opened in New London in 1961. Mrs. Alma Wise Thompson was born in 1906 in Holly Ridge, Sunflower County, Mississippi and came to Texas with her mother, Margaret Olivia Goss Wise, at the age of four. She is a licensed vocational nurse and worked at Overton Memorial Hospital from 1946 to 1961. She became a licensed nursing home administrator when the State required licensing. In 1948 the Thompsons moved from Sexton City to New London and reside there now. They have six children: Lerline, who married Cecil R. Stokely; Beall, who married Martha Thackston; Kathleen, who married James Stark; Mary Lea, who married John Allen Sieber; Billie Jean, who married Thomas Eugene Harper; and Grant, Jr., who married Sue Couch. The ten grandchildren are: Kenneth Wayne Stokely and Carolyn Sue Stokely Wesson, children of Lerline and Cecil Stokely of New London; Richard Harold, Michael and Sandy, children of Beall and Martha Thompson of Kingsville, Texas; Danny Lynn Stark, son of James and Kathleen Stark of Houston; Tommy and Kelly Harper, sons of Gene and Billie Jean Harper of Baytown, Texas; and Joe Ballard and Lisa, children of Grant, Jr. and Sue Thompson of Andrews, Texas. Great-grandchildren are: Scott Wayne Stokely, Jeremy Lee Wesson, Allison Stark, Kristi, and Casey and Cody Thompson. Three daughters—Lerline, Cathleen and Mary Lea—are schoolteachers. Billie Jean is a licensed vocational nurse. Beall, the oldest son, works for Exxon Company in Kingsville, Texas. Grant, Jr. is an electrical maintenance employee at Andrews, Texas.